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SIMON KENTON. 




O^ 



....A.... 



Young People's 



History of Kentucky 



.FOR. 



Schools and General Reading 



...BY... 



./i* 



Ed Porter Thompson 

Ex-Superintendent of Public Instruction; Author of ''The Academic 
Arithmetic.,^'' ''History of the Orpha^i Brigade,^' etc. 




\\^W-^'\ 



ST. LOUIS, MO.: 

A. R. FLEMING PUBLISHING CO. 
1897 



COPYRIGHT 189- BY ED PORTER THOMPSON. 

C 



F A-S\ 



1 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 



AnioiiiT uiir cuniuioii wealths no other has so remarkable a 
history as Kentucky. None other is so well worthy of being 
earefully studietl by all who find pleasure, instruction, and 
inspiration in the annals of the })ast, and particularly by her 
own })C()])le. In "the winniiii; of the west"" she stands first 
and unapproachable; in the u[)-building of thirty states her 
influence has been strouifly exerted through her statesmen in« 
the national councils and in most of their local governments; 
through her soldiers on the ever-receding frontiers; and 
through th()S(^ citizens who "westward took their way," to 
people the new lands. 

AVUile England was provoking the colonists to revolt, the 
early pioneers, as though led by an inscrutable hand, were 
finding their way over the mountains and j)reparing to estab- 
lish themselves as the outguard of civilization and hold the 
vast and almost unknown west, that it might become the pos- 
session of the sons of freedom; when British injustice culmi- 
nated in war, and that war was being waged, Kentuckians, 
few^ in mimber, and almost unaided, not only stood like a 
wall of fire to forbid foreign occu})ation of the great domain, 
but obtained by their arms a title to territory far greater than 
all then occupied by the struggling colonists, and made good 
their footing in that portion wdiich soon afterward became 
their own state. 

The strong characteristics of the men and women who, with 
unexampled courage, endurance, and patriotic devotion, 
achieved so nuich, with so little means and in the face of 
obstacles so great, could but impress themselves upon the 
commonwealth of their making; aiid to every call of the coun- 
try since that age of heroes and heroines Kentucky has 
responded with ardor and made herself felt with unmistak- 
able force. 

Her ])eople have been charged with lack of enterprising 
s])irit, with failing of that ])rogres.siveness so characteristic of 
the age; but, if they area, little too firmly moored to the ])ast, 
they have some comfort and no small compensation in the 



IV AUTHOR S TREFACE. 

fiicl Ihiit none of the fanatical isms and pernicious ologies that 
are sapping the foundations of i)ublic morality elsewhere have 
had their origin ;ind abiding place among them. For more 
than a century they have escaped that sign of Athenian deca- 
dence, the restless desire to be ever hearing and telling some 
new thing ; so that they still manifest a disposition not to cut 
loose from time-honored and restful traditions. 

What has been said of an individual may be said of them, 
that "even their faults, (of which they have their share), all 
lean to virtue's side ;" that l)eneath all there is that manly and 
and womanly moral fibre which gives strength, permanence, 
and unlimited possibilities of growth to a people. 

This book claims to be but an ejjitome of the History of 
Kentu(ds:y; but it will be found to contam a comiected 
and logical general account, to which the interest of variety 
is added by an unusual number of well-executed illus- 
trations, brief personal sketches, special and peculiar in- 
cidents, etc. The adult mind will read far more between 
the lines than is found in the text; to the young, enough 
is presented, it is earnestly hoped, to kindle a desire for 
a thorough exploration of this great historical field; and 
above all, the author trusts that he has imparted to the short 
story something of that spirit which should be ini{)ressed upon 
the young people of Kentucky whose minds and characters 
are still in the formative state — an admiration of their own 
country and a pride in its past, the surest guarantees that in 
the future her fair fame will be enhanced, her honor main- 
tained, and her progress in all right lines be steadily and 
nobly ])rom()ted. 

With nuich labor and pains and at no little cost the por- 
traits of many of our statesmen, jurists, and military leaders, 
hitherto not published, have been obtained, and these add 
greatly to the wealth of object-lessons which the work will be 
found to possess. And to those who have so generously aided 
us in this department, (owners of old family paintings and 
other portraits), it is fitting here to acknowledge obligation 
and to record the sincere thanks of author and publishers. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

[FOR INDliX IN DHTAll., ALPM A'.U TICALl Y AK'KANC.Fn. SI-E LAST PAGKS OF THli BOOK.] 



FIKST PERIOD. 

From thf. Earlikst Vlsit by White Mkn to the Beginning op 

THE Revolution. 

CHAPTER I. VAOE. 

riitro.luctcry: To i\w Young Reader, H 

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

I. The Kentucky Character.— II. Kentuckians a Peculiar Type of 

People, ^^ 

CHAPTER II. 

Ctcotrrapliy, ^^ 

CHAPTER III. 
From tlie Earliest Visit by White Men till the Transylvania Com- 
pany was Organized, ''^ 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

I. Thomas Bullitt.— II. First White Women in Kentucky.— III. The 
Hunter's Rifle.— IV. The Hunting Shirt.— V. The Tomahawk. 
—VI. The Long Hunters.— VII. Long Knife, or Big Knife, 43 

CHAPTER IV. 
Tlie Transylvania Company.— Boone's Trace or the Wilderness 
Road, etc., 47 

PERSONAL SKETt'HES. 

I. Daniel Boone.— II. Col. James Harrod.— III. Oen. Benjamin 

Logan.— IV. Richard Henderson, ;">- 

SECOND PERIOD. 

KeNTITKY Di'RING THE ReVOI-UTK )NAKV W.vR. 

CHAPTER V. 
Kentucky During Ihc Revolutionary War: The First Four Years, 03 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

1. Gen. James Ray.— II. Significance of Indian Trails, and Plow a 
Lost One Was Found. —III. Betsy Calloway's Bravery and 
Thoughtfulness.— IV. The First Marriage in Kentucky, . 78 

CHAPTER VI. 
Kentucky in the Revolutionary War: Last Four Years, . . 82 

V 



VI TABT.E OF CONTENTS. 

Page 
PERSONAL SKIOTCHKS AND IXCIDKNTS. 

I. The Todd Brotliers.— II. The Heroines of Bryan's Station.— 
III. Simon Girty.— IV. Capt. James Estill.— V, Joseph Proc- 
tor.— VI. Monk Estill.— VII. The Children Knew the Story 
by Heart. — VIII. The Terrible Experience of Benham and Wat- 
son. — IX. Mrs. Samuel Daveiss and the Indians.— X. Mrs. 
Samuel Daveiss and the RoV)l)er. — XI. Saved l)y His Dogs, 97 

THIRD PERIOD. 
From the Close of the Revoli^tionary War till Ken- 
tucky Became a State: Separation From Virginia. 

personal sketches and incidents. 
I. Hon. John Brown.— II. John Filson.-III. The McAfee Broth- 
ers. — IV. The First Newspaper in Kentucky, . . . US 

CHAPTER VIII. 

From the Close of the Revolution till Kentucky Became a State. — 
Indian Invasions and Atrocities. — Expeditions of Harmar and 
St. Clair, ' 123 

personal sketches, incidents, and explanations. 
I. Col. John Floyd.- II. Men Engaged in the Salt River Fight.— 
III. Col. Wm. Hardin.— IV. Wild-Cat McKinney.— V." The 
Heroines of South Elldiorn.— VI. Mrs. John Merrill.— VII. 
Burning at the Stake. — VIII. Scalping an Enemy. — IX. Ben 
Stockton.— X. A Singular Adventure.— XI. Rescued by an 
Indian Chief. -XII. A Noble Boy, ' . 134 

FOURTH PERIOD. 
Seven Years Under the First Constitutton. 

CHAPTER IX. 

Kentucky a State.— Seven Years Under First Constitution.— Citizen 

Cenet. — Wayne Conquers a Peace. — Resolutions of '9cS, etc., 14;') 

personal sketches, incidents, and explanations. 
I. Col. John Hardin.— II. First Preachers and First Churches,— 
III. A Fleet-Footed Woman. — TV. Story of a Lincoln County 
Family.— V. Gen. Peter Muhlenburg.— VI. Pioneer Women. — 
VII. Elector of Senate, 150 

FIFTH PERIOD. 
Fifty Years Under Second Constitution. 
CHAPTER X. 
Bank of Kentucky.- The Burr Conspiracy.— Kentucky in the Battle 
of Tippecanoe, etc., 184 



TARLE OF CONTKNTS. Vli 

Page. 
PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, ETC.. 

I. Gen. Charles Scott.— II. Squire Boone.— III. Edmund Rogers.— 
IV. Aaron Burr.— V. Gen. Thomas Fletcher.— VI. The Treat- 
ment of the Booues and Simon Kenton.— VII. Cut Money, 170 

CHAPTER XL 

Kentucky in the War of 1812 .179 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, ETC. 

I. Gov. Isaac Shelby.— II. Logan, the Indian Chief.— III. The 
Militia Pig.— IV. Scene at the Raisin Eight Months After the 
Massacre.— V. Kentucky Mothers.— VI. General Harrison's 
Confidence in Kentucky Troops.— VII. The Indians Dreaded 
Kentuckians. — VIII. Some Kentuckians Wlio Fought With 

Perry, 190 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Jackson Pnrcliase.— Financial Conditions in Kentucky.— Old 

Court and New Court. 1^9 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, ETC. 

I. Gen. Simon Kenton.— 11. Gen. George Rogers Clark.— III. 
Capt. Bland Ballard.-IV. The Todds, Father and Son.— V. 
Gen. John Adair.— VI. The Ancient Governor, . . . -'05 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Kentucky in the ^lexicau War 21G 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, ETC. 

I. Kentucky's Great Orators. — 11. Kentuckians Among the 

Troops of Other States During the Mexican War, . . 223 

SIXTH PERIOD. 

Forty Years Under the Third Constitution and Six Under 

THE Fourth. 

CHAPTER XIV. 
From 1850 to 18G0.— Kentucky in the Civil War.— Some of the 

Events of ]S()0-()1, ^"-^7 

CHAPTER XV. 
Kentucky in the Civil War.— From September, 1861, till After the 

Battle of Perryville, ^37 

CHAPTER XVI. 
Kentucky in the Civil War.— From Bragg's Retreat to the Close, 251 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, ETC. 
I. The American Citizen-Soldier.— II. General Officers Furnished 

by Kentucky to the Two Armies, 264 



^''" TABLE OF COXTKNTS. 

CHAPTER WIT ^'"*^- 

After tli(> Tivil War, 

2GG 

CHAPTER xvnr. 

Education in Ki'utuckv 

278 

PERSONAL SKETCHKS, ETC. 

I. Conspifuons Service to the Common School System, . . 28o 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Art, Science and Literature 

288 

NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

I. Durrett and the Filson Chil) 

■••,•■.. 291 

CHAPTER XX. 

African Slavery in Kentucky, 

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, COMMEXTS ETC 

I. Kentucky's Governors, Lieutenant-Governors,' and" Secretaries 
of State.-n Increase of Population in Kentucky by Periods 

Sok iv"u~t"[-.'^"''^ ''''^''^''' ^" Pip^tion d? 
tHis iiook.-IV. United States Senators from Kentucky. . 302 




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Adair, Gen. and Gov. .lolin, . 
AndfTson, Brig:, and l^revet ( 

Ma j. -Gen. Kolu'rt, . J 

Ashland— Hem-y Clay's Res- 1 

idence ) 

Barnyard in Franklin County, 
Barry, Senator Win. T., 
Beck, Senator James B., 
Beckner, Hon. Wn\. M., 
Bibb, Senator Geortce M., 
Blaeklmrn, Gov. Luke P.. 
Blackburn, Senator J. C. S., 
Boone, Daniel, 
Boonesborougli Stockade , 
Boyle, Bri<?.-Gen. J. T., . 
Bradley, Gov. Wni. 0., . 
Bramlette, Gov. Tho. E., 
Breckinridge, Rev. Doctor 

Robt. J 

Breckinridge, Senator John, . 
Breckinridge, Maj.-Gen. J. C, 
Brown, Senator John, 
Brown, Gov, John Young, 
Buckner, Lieiit.-Gen. S. B., . 
Buell, Maj.-Gen. Don Carlos, 
Buford, Brig. -Gen. Abraliani, 
Bullock, Judge W. F., 
Carlisle, Senator John G., 
Cartwright, Peter, . 
Centre College, Danville, Ky. 
Clark, (ten. (leorge Rogers, 
Clark, (tov. James, . 
( 'lay, Senator Henry, 
Clay, Gen. (Jreen, . 
Clay, IMaj.-Gcn. Cassius M., 
Crittenden, Gov. and Senator 

John J., 
Crittenden, M a j . - Gen. 
George B., 



A(iK. 

ISil 
224 



202 
272 
28G 
170 
270 
273 
53 
49 
258 
276 
260 

285 

155 
232 
119 
273 
241 
245 
254 
285 
277 
160 
282 
209 
204 
205 
184 
294 

231 



Page. 

Crittenden, Maj.-Gen. T. L., 235 

Croxton, Brig, and Bi'evet \ 
Maj.-Gen. John T., . i 

Cosby, Brig.-Gen. George B., 

Custom House andOld Bridge | 
Over the Kentucky River at \ 
Frankfort, . . . ) 

Daniel Boone Alone in the ) 
Wilderness of Kentucky, j 

Daveiss, ('ol. Joseph Hamil 
ton, .... 

Davis, Jefferson, 

Desha, Gov. Joseph, 

Durelle, Judge George, . 

Durrett, Coi. Reuben T., 

Field, Maj.-Gen. Chas. W., 

Filson, John, . 

Finley, the Discoverer of \ 
Kentiicky, . . . j 
Fry, Brig.-Gen. Speed S., 
Garrard, Gov. James, 
Garrard, Brig.-Gen. T. T., . 
Geoi'getown College, 
Governor's Mansion, 
GufPy, Judge B.L. D., . 
Guthrie, Senator James, 
Hanson, Brig.-Gen. R()ger W., 
Harlan, Gen. John JVI., . 
Hayfield Near Russellville, 
Hazlerigg, Judge James H., . 
Helm, (rov. John L., 
Helm, Brig. -Grn. Ben Hardin, 262 
Hol)son, Brig.-Gen. Ed H., . 253 
Hodge, Brig.-Gen. George B., 249 
Indian Wigwam, . . .31 
Jackson, Brig.-Gen. James S., 248 
Johnston, Gen. Albert Sidney, 237 
Johnson, Senator Richard M., 187 
Kenton and Fletcher, . . 176 



260 
247 

68 

36 

166 

230 
203 
10 
292 
265 
120 

33 

262 

154 

238 

284 

, 151 

. 10 

, 267 

252 

251 

20 

10 

268 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Kenton, Gen. Simon, 
Kentucky and Indiaiui Bridge 1 

at Louisville, . . i 

Knott, Gov. J. Proctor, . 
Landes, Jud{2:e J. J., 
Leslie, Gov. Preston H., 
Letcher, Gov. Robt. P., . 
Lewis, Gen. and Judfje) 

Josepli H., . . . ) 
Lijicoln, Abraham, 
Lincoln and the Ohio River \ 

Keel-boat, . . . ) 
Lindsay, Senator Wm., . 
Loading Coal Barge on Gre'-n ) 

River, . . . . j 
McCreary, Gov. James B., 
McCreery, Senator Tho. C, 
McDowell, Col. Samuel, 
Maclien, Senator Willis B., 
Magoffin, Gov. Beriah, . 
Marshall, Senator Humphrey, 
Marshall, Brig. -Gen. Hum- I 

phrey, . . . . j 
Marshall, Thomas F., . 
Menefee, Richard H., 
Merri wether, Senator David, . 
Metcalfe, Gov. and Senator | 

Thomas, ... J 

Morgan, Brig. -Gen. John H., 

Murray, Brig.-Gen. Eli H., . 

Nelson, Maj.-Gen. Wm., 

Office of the "Kentucke Ga- ) 
zette" 1787-the First Print- ■ 
ing House in Kentucky, j 

Paynter, Judge Thomas H., . 

Powell, Gov. and Senator \ 
L'azarus W., . . . i 

Prentice, Geo. D., . 

Preston, Maj.-Gen. Wm., 



271 

10 
2()!) 
204 

10 
22! I 
lU 
271 

19 

270 

2fi7 
11(5 
269 
231 
57 

239 

225 
225 

227 

203 

2-t2 
264 
244 

122 

10 
222 

290 

218 



Pace. 
Price, Brig.-(}en. Samuel W., 24G 
Pryor, Judge Wm. S., . . 10 
Robinscm, Gov. James F., . 259 
Rousseau, Maj.-Gen. Lovell H., 233 
Rowan, Senator John, . . 109 
Scott, Gen. and Gov. Charles, 171 
Sheep Pasture in Montgom- \ 

ery County, ... J 
Shelby, Gen. and Gov. Isaac, 
Smith, Brig.-Gen. Green Clay, 
Smith, Hon. Z. F., 
State Arsenal at Fratikfort, 
State House and Office Build- \ 

ing, . . . . / 

State Monument at Frankfort, 
Stevenson, Gov. and Sena-\ 

tor John W., . . J 

Stockade at Lexington, . 
Talbott, Senator Isham, . 
Taylor, Gen. James, 
Teeumseh, .... 

The Boone Monument, . 
The Typical Rural Combina- ] 

tion — Church, School-house > 

and Cemetery, . . J 
Tilghman, Brig.-Gen. Lloyd, . 
Todd, Hon. Thomas, .' . 
Tobacco Barn in Bourbon 1 

County, .... J 
Tobacco Field in Fleming 1^ 

County, . . . . i 
Wai'd, Brig, and Brevet Maj. I 

Gen. W. T., . . ." J 

Whittaker, Brig, and Brevet \ 
Maj.- Gen. Walter C, . / 

Wickliffe, Gov. Charles A., . 

Williams, Gen. and Senator ) 

John S., . . .J 

Wood, Maj.-Gen. Tho. J., . 



29 

191 

243 

28 j 

39 

140 

14 

20S 

83 
191) 
181 
185 

5o 

279 

240 
213 

23 

24 

263 

263 
136 
221 
242 



Young People's 

History of Kentucky. 



CHAPTER I. 

introductory: to thk young reader. 

1. History in its sinii)ler form is ))ut the story of those 
whose Hves exerted so marked an influence upf>n their times 
that they should be recorded for the instruction of mankind. 
Its office is to warn no less than to light, to inspire, and to 
ffuide all who are capable of applying the lessons of the past 
to the conduct of the present ; and it takes note of whateyer 
stands out conspicuous, whether noble or ignoble, heroic or 
base, false or true. 

2. I purpose to tell you the story of Kentucky, as a 
teacher interested in his pupil and speaking with him face 
to face, not as one setting down details to be conned over 
as a task. 

.'5. It is related of a patriotic French gentleman that when 
he souglit to inijjress on a iK'])lie\v a sense of his duty to his 
country the Aoung man turned upon him with the question, 
"Uncle, what ^s• my country?" He replied, "It is the sky 
above you, the sun that gives you light, the winds that fan 
your cheek, the recurring seasons — all that combines to make 
a genial and salubrious clime; it is not alone that earth 
beneath }-our feet which is circumscribed J)y the boundary 
lines of the kingdom, with its hills and vales and streams, its 
forests and fields, but its toilino" and directino; and achievins; 
millions, and their homes in the districts and the cities; it is 

11 



12 YOUNU PEOPLK's history of KKNTTT'KY. 

the govoniinont that :i<hiiinislei's the laws and the anu\- and 
navy that protect you; it is yonv food and drink and rainicnl ; 
it is your father and mother who liave reared you and niatk^ 
you what you are; it is all who love you; it is the glo- 
rious inemorv of our ancestors — men and women Avho for 
two thousand yeai's have been making our beautiful France 
what she is, the })ride of her peoi)le and the wonder of the 
nations. All these and more are your country; and the noble 
soul wdl hold them sacred in thouo:ht and give them lastino: 
love and unshaken allegiance." 

4. It is in this high-hearted and all-embracing way that 
I woukl have Kentucky boys and girls thiidv of Kentucky. 
Then the effort to acijuire a knowledge of what she has been 
and what she is — how those who have preceded them have 
demeaned themselves in every line of endeavor by which a 
great commonwealth is founded and built up — will not be 
tiresome drudgery but a lively pleasure. 

5. A gentleman of another state who rose to high com- 
mand in the Federal army during the civil war, and who 
has since won fame as an author, had occasion a few yeai's ago 
when addressing a meeting of his fellow-veterans to allude 
to the singular heroism and constancy displayed by Kentucky 
soldiers in every war of the republic; and he maintained that 
it was easily accounted for. It was well known, he said, that 
Kentuckians have a rather overweening state pride, and that 
the Old Virginia sort of family pride which it has become 
fashionable in some sections to laugh at, was an equally strong- 
characteristic. Where these are combined in a people, their 
men can be relied on in even the most des[)erate emergencies — 
they are invincible. The soldiers of Kentucky, he said in 
substance, would dare anything and bear aiwthing rather than 
disgrace an honored name or bring a l)lot upon the fame of 
their native state. 

6. This is a striking tribute from a brave and true man. 
In the course of the narrative to which I invite voiir attention 



INTRODUCTORY. 13 

\on will cli.scover upon what he hast'd his assertions, and 
much to confirm his theory. When I seek to encourage in 
you the thouuhts and feelings to which he alludes, I would 
have vou understand that there is no surer way to foster that 
larger patriotism which comprehends our whole country and 
ofives every one of its millions of inhabitants a })ersonal in- 
terest in the "flag of the free, that commands respect in every 
land and iloats on every sea." 

7. The liist(n-ian, Mann I)Utler, says of them: "To the 
fruits of courages and endurance of suffering in every ai)pall- 
ing form, no portion of the western country lias su})erior 
claims to those of Kentucky. She has been the nursing 
mother of the west; the blood of her citizens has flowed 
freely on every battle-tield; now let them and their })osterity 
enjoy the honors so manfully won." 

8. There are few young i)eo[)le who do not take pleasure in 
readinof or hearino; tales of adventure; of dani>;ers and ditii- 
culties l)oldly met and manfully resisted; of trials and suffer- 
ins's so borne as to make man seem deflant of calamity and 
superior to adverse fate. In these the history of Kentucky 
so abounds that they cannot be recounted except in the briefest 
way . 

9. Are you thrilled by the recital of sayage cunning 
thwarted by the shrewdness and circumspection of honorable 
foes? Of fiendish perfidy i)unished by open fight? Of mas- 
acres avenjied in honorable battle by those who scorned to 
retaliate by visiting destruction on helpless cai)tives? Of 
women not only sharing the hardships and dangers of ])ioneer 
life, but bravely fighting in defense of their homes? Then the 
early annals of your native state can furnish you this excite- 
ment and hel{) to impress ui)on a healthful mind a sense of 
the chivalry of the unpretending j)ioneers who conquered the 
wilderness and left to us a heritage of great names as well as 
of a noble connnonwealth. In the wars with Great Britain, 
by which liberty was won and confirmed tons; in that with 




■#»'^*^._ 



'1m f I 



3fc^ 



14 



INTKODrCTORV. 15 

Mexico, I)V which the tcn-itorv of the United States was ex- 
tended to the shores of the Pacitic; in the gigantic sectional 
struggle, when more than three millions of fellow-conntrymen 
were four years engaged in a deatli-grapplc over vital ques- 
tions that had failed of peaceable settlement — whei%ver 
supreme tests of courage and fortitude have been applied, 
your fathers and forefathers have proved themselves great 
among the greatest, and have w'on for Kentucky a world-wide 
fame. 

10. But not alone in martial strife have their high quali- 
ties been manifested. "Peace hath had her victories" for 
them. In the national councils the statesmen and orators 
of Kentucky have been among the foremost; in legal tribu- 
nals, state and federal, her jurists have been the peers of the 
proudest ; and letters, divinity and medicine have contributed 
to our list of eminent names. , 

11. Kentuckians have played a nu)st important part in the 
civil as well as military affairs of the general government ; 
and wherever they have found a foothold in the budding up 
of new states their fitness for leadership has been recognized. 
More than eighty of them have been ambassadors, foreign 
ministers, and consuls; twenty-two have held high command 
in the United States army (regular and volunteer) and navy; 
twenty-eight were generals of volunteers in the Federal army 
during the civil war, and twenty-seven in the Confederate 
army; thirty have been heads of departments and officers 
of the United States government; seven have been judges 
of the United States Supreme Court, and about thirty have 
been judges of other courts (state and United States); more 
than fifty have been governors and lieutenant-governors of 
other states and territories; more than eighty are known 
to have represented other states in Congress; twenty-two 
have been presidents of universities and colleges in other 
states; and six have been President of the Senate and Vice- 
President of the United States. The two great heads of the 



16 YOUN(i I'KOI'LI'V S' HISTORY OK KKNTUCKT. 

respective ijjoveriimeiits duriiiii' the civil \v;ir, Abraham Lin- 
coln and .Jefferson Davis, were native Kentuckians. E(|nally 
remarkable is the list of those whom the people of their 
adopted stat(^s have elected to minor positions of honor and 
res|K)nsibilitv. 

12. Hnt it is not in the matter of office-holdinii: only that 
this characteristic of leadershi}) has been manifested. Since 
Kentncky was admitted to the Union, thirty new states have 
been oruanized ; and for tiiis work she has contribnted of 
her native })opnlation, for a loiiij series of years, al)ont twice 
as numy as she has received from mH the other states and 
from foreiirn conntries. At the bar, in the })nlpit, in the 
ranks of edncators, in the conce[)tion and <onduct of ijreat 
business enter})rises, })ublic and private, they are found in 
the foremost rank in almost every other state and city west 
of the Alleghanies. 

13. Certain traits that indicate sterlini;: no])ility of char- 
acter are conspicuous, as, loyalty to family, fidelity to friends, 
devotion to comrades in times of suffering and peril, and 
scorn of snivellers and shams. To the study and a])precia- 
tion of these characteristics you shoukl give earnest heed. 

14. Our great philoso})her. Dr. Franklin, says of the acts 
of those who struggled for freedom and the promotion of 
human happiness: "]My countrymen, these things ought not 
to be forgotten. Ft)r tiie benetit of our children and those 
that follow them they should be recorded."' 

15. And the inunortal Roman orator s:iid of history: "It 
is the messenger of tiie past and the teacher of life." This 
messenger of Kentucky's past brings that to you which is 
full of instruction as well as entertainment ; and his lesson, if 
received and understood, Avill go far to prej^are }'0u for a 
useful and honorable career. 



INTKODUCTOliY. 17 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



I. Tho Kentucky Cluiracter. — Artliiir & Car[)enter, who 
in l.sr)2 published :i history of Kentucky, have this to suy of 
our pioneers and their descendants: "As the self-reliant 
type of American character at the epoch of the Kevolution, the 
Kentuckian stands i)re-eininent. lie may even stand for it at 
the present day. The descendant of the cavaliers of Virginia 
and Maryland, he carried with him into the wilderness many 
of the noble (jualities for which that brave, high-toned, but 
reckless class of people were distinguished; while he left 
behind him not a few of their vices. Daring even to rash- 
ness, he was yet full of all generous impulses; fierce to his 
enemies, he was yet hos})ital)Ie to the stranger; (juick to 
resent an injury, 3'et prompt to forgive it ; fertile in strata- 
gem, yet steadfast in resolve; fiery in pursuit, yet cool and 
collected in action ; never retreating but to fight, Parthian-like, 
as he fell l)ack ; never stooi)ing to the earth but to gather 
strength for the rebound ; simple in his tastes and pleasures ; 
a doer of brave acts and o-enerous deeds — not to g-ain the 
applause of others, but from native nobility of soul. Free, 
even to the verge of lawlessness, time has reversed in him the 
stigma which Ca})t. John Smith cast upon his progenitors, who, 
if they were amenable to the censure of that valiant soldier, 
as being 'more fitted to corrupt than to found a common- 
wealth,' have yet the merit of having redeemed their memory 
in the pure republicanism of their children." 

II. Keiituckijins a Peculiar Type of People. — In Ken- 
tucky we find nearly jnire English blood, mainly derived 
through the Old Dominion and altogether from districts 
that shared the Virginia conditions. It is, moreover, the 
largest ])ody of i)ure English folk that has, si)eaking gener- 
ally, l)een se})arated from the mother country for two hundred 
years. We see, therefore, how interesting is the }>roblem of 
this Kentucky })opulation. It has seriously been maintained 
that the European l)lood tends to enfeeblement in American 
conditions; that it rc(|uircs the admixture of new blood from 
the Old AVorld in order to keep its quality unimpaired. There 
is an experiment jirovided that will give a full disproval to 
this hypothesis. The reader Mill do well to bear it in mind 
while he follows the history of Kentucky people. * * * 

2 



18 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

Twenty years of such life [that from 177') to 1795] devel- 
oped a particular sort of man — a kind that was never known 
before or since in such numbers in any country. The men 
who took their sha})e from the life that was lived in the first 
three decades of Kentucky civilization had a very peculiar 
(juality of mind. Its most characteristic feature was a certain 
dauntlessness, a habit of asserting independence of all control 
except that of the written law. * * * There was a great 
solidity to this people. None but a people of character could 
stand the strain in Avhich they lived. * * * The crimi- 
nals, the weaklings, and other refuse of society had no place 
in this embattled colony. — iY. >6'. tiJtaler. 




GEOGRAPHY. 



19 



CHAPTER II. 



(iKOCKAI'IIV 



1. To study liistory profitably you nui.st at every stej) asso- 
ciate e\-euts. tiuies, })ersoiis, and })laces. You will then have 
a more distinct impression of each occurrence and its relation 
to all the others tliat nud<e up the account. If any place asso- 
ciated with a particular historical event is in your locality, or 
if in your travels you visit one, you. will regard it Avith a live- 








r""^? 



'''*'^^. 




LOADING COAL BAK<;K ON GItEEN KIVEK. 



lier interest and carry in your mind a nujre perfect and life- 
like i)icture of what you have heard and read. It is important, 
therefore, for you to accjuire a knowledge of the surface feat- 
ures of Kentucky and note also its surroundings. 

2. As you are soon to take upon yoii the duties and 
responsibilities of a citizen, it is scarcely less important that 
you understand the geography of your state in its larger 
sense, as embracing not alone the description of its surface 
features, but its })hvsical structure and characteristics, natural 



20 



YOUMd JMOOPLE S IIIHTOKV OF KENTUCKY. 



products, tiiid the people by whom it is inhabited. Fully to 
comprehend its physical structure and characteristics implies 
an acquaintance with the science of geolog}^ ; but a plain state- 
ment of its natural resources, as found in connection with its 
geological formation, will serve to show you how greatly its 
})coi)le are favored by the possession of innnense and various 
underground wealth, as well as of advantageous surface and 
atmospheric conditions. 

3. Kentucky lies between 3(i° 80' and 8(>' (>' north latitude, 
and 82° 3' and 8i» ' 11' west longitude. It includes all that 




HAYFIELU NEAR RUSSKLLVILLE. 

territory southwest of the line beoinnino^ at the mouth of the 
Big Sandy, and running up the northeasterly branch thereof 
to the great Laurel Ridge or Cumberland mountain, and with 
that southwest, to a line of Tennessee. It is bounded on the 
north by Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio ; on the east by West Vir- 
ginia and Virginia; on the south by Tennessee; and on the 
west In' Missouri. It is about oOO miles in length east and 
Avest, Avith the mean l)rcadlh of l.')0 miles, and is esllmalcd 
to coiitniu oNcr 41,000 square miles, or nearly twenty-sc\en 
million acres. 



<JK<)<{RAPHY. 21 

4. The surface is an irregular broken plain, sloping west 
and northwest from the .summit of the Cumberland mount- 
ains. These summits are 3000 feet above sea-level ; there is 
a gradual decrease northAvest and west till the elevation in 
the extreme west is but 2(50 feet ; and the estimated mean ele- 
vation is 600 feet. Thirty-two of the eastern and southeastern 
counties are more or less rough and mountainous throughout ; 
but the remainder of the state is an undulating tableland, 
comparatively little broken except by a range of highlands 
known in one part as The Knobs, in another as Muldraugh's 
Hill, extending westward to the Ohio river below Louisville, 
and by deep-cutting river excavations. 

5. It is penetrated and l^ounded by more water-ways, now 
navigable and capable of being made so by ordinary means, 
than any other state. Besides these there are more than 800 
creeks, which not only afford in every section abundance of 
fresh water for stock, but much valuable power for machinery. 

6. The })rincipal rivers, now navigable in the aggregate for 
a distance of more than l-SOO miles, are the Ohio, Mississippi, 
Big Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, Cumberland, Tennessee, Green, 
Big Barren, Salt, Pond, and Tradewater. The Ohio touches 
the whole northern boundary, 653 miles, as the river runs. 
The Mississippi forms its entire western boundary, about 100 
miles as the river runs. The Big Sandy touches its eastern 
boundary for more than a hundred miles. The lesser rivers, 
some of them now na\igablc for short distances during high 
water, and all of which can be made so for an aggregate dis- 
tance of between 2000 and 3000 miles, are: the Little Sandy, 
Red, Little Kentucky, Elkhorn, Blood, Dick's, Laurel, Rock- 
castle, Rough, Little Barren, Chaplin, Nolin, Muddy, Gaspar, 
Clark's, Little, Little Obion, and Wolf. All these you should 
trace on your map, and so iix in your mind what part of the 
state each is in, with its relative position, and extent of coun- 
try drained, as to be able to answer promptly all pertinent 
questions. 



22 



V()r\(! PROPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



7. 'I'll;* Ohio belongs to the Mississippi rivor system, and all 
the ri vers :iiid ereeks having theh' origin and course in the slate, 
except those that rise in the first two tiers of counties in the 
extreme western part, belong to the Ohio system. Though 
there is a small portion of the state that has a southwestern 
inclination, carrying the Cumberland into the state of Ten- 
nessee, in which it has its greater length before it re-enters 
Kentucky, the course of all the main streams indicate sub- 







BARNYARD IN FRANKLTN COUNTV. 

stantially a single water-shed, with a constant slope north by 
west . 

8. Except in the lowlands along the banks of the numerous 
streams, AYliere washings from the hills and the overflow of 
the water-courses have formed what is known as the alluvial 
or river land, the soils have been derived from the decay of 
underlying rocks. Those resulting from the decomposition of 
blue limestone are in general most productive and most 
enduring under cultivation, though the deep alluvials are 
exceedingly fertile. The entire counties of Bourbon, Fay- 



<;k()(}Raimi>' 



23 



otto and ^^'<)(^clf<)l•cl, and portions of P)ath, Clark, Franklin, 
Harrison, Jessamine, Nicholas, Owen and Scott, constitute a 
great l)ody of bluc-srass land. There are hi Boyle, Garrard, 
Green, Laurel, Lincoln, Madison, Mercer, Nelson, and Shelby, 
sections of blue-grass lands that are equally rich ; and large 
portions of a number of counties south and west of Green river 
are notably productive. This singular condition obtains in 
Kentuck}', that while a great part of it is underlaid by val- 







TOBACCO BARN IN BOURBON COUNTY. 

uable mineral stores, less than one-fortieth of its surface is 
wholly unfit for agricultural purposes. 

9. The climate is moderate. Change of weather is fre- 
(|uently sudden and severe; but the extremes of temperature 
prevail for only very brief periods. The lowest seldom 
reaches zero, while its greatest summer heat is frequently 
below that of regions bordering on the great lakes and the 
Atlantic. On the Cumberland mountains it is about fifty 
degrees, the increase from east to west and southwest being 
almost uniform, till at the southwest corner it is about sixty 



u 



YOUNG PEOPLK S HISTORY OF KEXTUrKV. 



degrees. The seasons are more regular in succession, more 
nearly equal in duration, and more distinct in the character- 
istics peculiar to each than in other latitudes; the rainfall 
(an annual average of 46 inches) is generally very equally 
distributed over the state, and destructive drouths in any 
section are rare; snow seldom falls to such a depth as to 
interfere with local traffic or impede travel ; and destructive 
tornadoes or cyclones scarcely ever occur. 

10. Climatic conditions, purity of water, quality of food 
products, and healthful occupation, combine to give the people 







TOBACCO FILLD IN FLEMING COUNTY. 

size, strength and endurance. Among the hundreds of thou- 
sand of volunteers from all parts of the Union, natives and 
foreigners, during the civil war, ofiicial tables show that those 
born and reared in Kentucky and Tennessee exceeded all 
others in average height, weight, size of head, circumference 
of chest, and ratio of weight to stature. 

11. Here almost every product of the soil known in the 
temperate zones flourishes — grains, grasses, textile plants, 
and fruits; very profitable ones, as tobacco and hemp, in 
greater abundance than in any other state ; domestic animals 



(!KO(4RAniV. 25 

nttniii to such superior dcvelopniout that the liner kinds are 
scarcely e<iualled in the world; while the live-stock and dairy 
products are yielded in excess of those of nearly every other 
state in proportion to the number of animals. 

12. About half the area of the state is still covered with 
forests, in which are found almost every species of tree indisf- 
enous to temperate regions, and the supply of both hard and 
soft woods used for buildino; and in the manufactures is hardly 
excelled in quality or quantity by that of any other section of 
the United States. 

13. But the surface resources, however various and virtu- 
ally inexhaustible, are surpassed by underground treasures 
that have been as yet but little developed. The geological 
structure of Kentucky embraces seven or eight formations or 
beds as classified by scientists according to the principal 
mineral contents of each. The coal fields embrace fifteen 
thousand six hundred and eighty s<|uare miles, covering for 
the most part twenty counties in the western section of the 
state and thirty-three in the eastern. Deposits of the differ- 
ent kinds of iron ore are enormous. Besides the different 
kinds of coal and iron ore, there are more than forty kinds of 
mineral products known to the arts and to trade, and con- 
tributing to the convenience, comfort, and luxury of mankind. 
Our mineral stores take a Avide range as to number, and their 
commercial value is beyond computation. Those of coal and 
iron alone are considerably in excess of those of Great 
Britain. 

14. Chiefly in the central part of the state are more than 
a hundred salt licks or springs, which, prior to the white 
man's coming, were the resort of multitudes of herbivorous 
aninuils to obtain salt by licking the earth and rocks impreg- 
nated with it; and for a long time the settlers were dependent 
on the springs, and upon wells which were sunk in other parts 
of the state, for their supply of salt, which thoy made by 
boiling the water. 



2(\ yOTTXG TEOIT-K's IIISTOIIY OF KKNTrfKY. 

15. ('(u-iniu kinds of game, auhnals aiul birds, are still 
found i.i the woods and fields. The law for the protection of 
birds recites twenty-seven species of these still common among 
lis, besides the scavengers, birds of prey, and those that are 
destructive of grain and fruit crops. 

16. The natural scenery is at certain seasons of the year 
beautiful, and in some mountain sections and along the prin- 
cipal rivers as picturescjue as much of that so extravagantly 
described by tourists in foreign lands. 

17. There are many natural curiosities, and such of these 
as are in your locality you should see and study. A habit of 
observing and considering the different aspects of nature and 
the peculiarities of objects around 3^ou will afford you intel- 
lectual pleasure through life, and give zest to the tasks set for 
you by your teachers in the study of natural sciences. I men- 
tion a few of those noted by geographers and others: as, the 
Split Hill, in Boone county, by which a deep zigzag avenue 
of considerable extent has been formed ; Sinking creek, in 
Breckinridge county, a stream which furnishes sufHcient 
water-power to drive machinery the year round but has five or 
six miles of its course underground — sinking suddenly about 
seven miles from its source and afterward reappearing ; Dis- 
mal Rock, in Edmonson county, an almost perpendicular 
and distinct mass one hundred and sixty-three feet high ; The 
Indian Hill, also in Edmonson count}^ eighty-four feet high, 
a mile in circumference, and perpendicular except on one side, 
where ascent on foot is practicable; a natural circular tunnel 
under the elevation on which Bardstown is built ; the Point of 
Rocks, the Jump-off, and Pond Branch, in Owen countj^; 
large, flat and solid rocks in several localities, having on them 
deepl}^ indented and distinct impressions of human feet and 
the feet of dogs; Anvil Rock, in Union county, fifty feet 
high, twenty feet wide, and two feet thick, having a spur 
like the horn of an anvil and standing entirely isolated on level 
bottom-land; Wolf Sink, in Warren county, a depression 



CKOCUAPTfY. 27 

apparently fonnod by xlic siiikiiii^ oi" a section of IoaoI open 
barrt'ii, thi'cc hundred feet long-, one hundred and fifty feet 
\sido, but witli a sloping; bottom which is about twenty feet 
below tlie surrounding surface at the south end and one hun- 
dred and fifty feet at the north end ; so-called Bottomless Pits, 
some of which are filled with water — no sounding line having 
yet ascertained their depth; and numerous caverns. Of these 
Manunoth cave known throuirhout the civilized world, is 
regarded as the greatest of natural wonders ; but the Colossal 
cave only recently explored, is claimed by its discoverers and 
owners to exceed the Manimoth in extent and splendor. Both 
these great caves are in Edmonson county. The Falls of the 
Cumberland, in Whitley county, about fourteen miles below 
Williamsburgh, are among the most remarkable objects in the 
state. The river has an almost perpendicular fall of more 
than sixty feet, and the roar of the water can at times be 
heard for many miles above and below. Behind the falling 
sheet, arched as it plunges from the top of the cliff, a person 
can go nearly across the river bed. 

18. When the white man came to Kentucky and explored 
it he found it uninhabited except by a small l^ody of Indians, 
who really belonged to a village on the north side, near 
the mouth of the Scioto ; and there were perhaps a few living 
along the eastern shore of the Mississippi. But north of 
the Ohio, on the Scioto, Muskingum, and Miami rivers, were 
the homes of the Shawnee Indians; farther west, in the 
valley of the Wabash, were the Wabash Indians; and in the 
Tennessee valley, south, were the Chickasaws, Cherokees, and 
Choctaws. While none of these tribes could dwell here, all 
claimed it as a hunting ground; and their huntino- excursions 
resulted in conflicts whenever the northern and southern tribes 
chanced to meet, which, according to their own account, and 
from indications discerned by the pioneer whites, was of fre- 
(luent occurrence. A tradition among the Indians told of a 
race of people who inhal)ited the country centuries before, 



28 YOITXO PEOIT,k's TIISTORV OK K KX'I'I'f 'Kl' . 

but who had ])cen cither dcstroyod or driven far to the south- 
west. Memorials of this pre-historie race — mounds, burying 
grounds, embankments, fortifications^ of stone and of earth, 
ditched and walled toAvns, and articles of handicraft found in 
them — testify that the original inhabitants, to whom the set- 
tlers gave the general name of Mound-Builders, were much 
farther advanced in the arts of civilization than any known in 
North America except the Aztecs, or Mexicans. 

19. Well-defined and notable relics of this extinct people 
have been found in forty-one counties, to the number, in the 
aggregate, of more than five hundred. In the caverns and 
mounds, explorers and excavators have discovered mummified 
human bodies, stone coffins, bones of human beings and of 
animals, ]:)eads and other articles made of copper, small breast- 
plates, earthenware and queensware, ivory beads, polished 
flints, etc. In sinking wells and excavating for house-founda- 
tion and cellars, numerous bones of a gigantic race, as well as 
those of ordinary size, have been exhumed. 

20. There was abundant evidence, too, that at a former 
period some species of animals larger than are now known to 
man existed here. At Big Bone Lick in Boone county was 
found a great collection of bones and teeth of the mammoth 
or mastodon — the remains of those which had perished from 
time to time at this salt-water resort to which pathways led 
from every direction. 

21. The whites who came to explore and settle Kentucky 
ascertained it to be an almost unbroken forest — more than 
seven-eighths of this vast area being thus covered. In many 
sections were great bodies of magnificent old trees ; in some 
where these grew the woodland was comparatively open ; in 
others a thick undergrowth of brushwood, vines, and briers; 
and here and there along the streams almost impenetrable 
cane-brakes or thickets of cane. About six thousand square 
miles of the central and western or southwestern parts consti- 
tuted almost the whole un wooded or prairie district. 



GEOGRAPHY. 



2!) 



2:5. lu this groat forest land, uiil)rokcn even by Indian 
■settlements and clearings, were ininieuse herds of buffalo; 
while deer, elk, bears, wolves, panthers, and the smaller wild 
animals abounded ; as did wild turkeys and the many other 
species of birds that are still (H)mmon. The numerous 
■streams were jjrolitic of the kinds of food fishes which they 
still sui)ply in abundance notwithstanding the ceaseless 
destruction that has been going on for more than a century. 
It was hardly extravagant in sonu^ of the enthusiastic pioneers 







SHEEP PASTUUE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY. 



who declared Kentucky to be the })aradise of the hunter and 
fisherman. 

28. The population at the present time (18'J(3), is more 
than two millions. In the main it is of Anglo-Saxon descent. 
Those who took the lead in the pioneer and formative period 
were chiefiy from Virginia: but Maryland, Pennsylvania, and 
the Carolinas have contributed no inconsidcra])lo portion. 
There has been a singular absence of admixture of blood 
since emiijration from foreign countries bciran to be attracted. 



30 YOUNG J'EOrLE's IIISTORY OF K1':NTUCKV. 

About three-fourths of th(5 iuiniigrants, us noted l)y the census 
of 1<SI)(), li;ive come from the other states of the Union, and 
are for the most part of English stock, though there is a 
strong element among these, as well as among the descend- 
ants of the original settlers, of those nohle ])coj)les, the 
Scotch-Irish and the French-Huguenots. Less than one- 
twentieth of the population are foreign horn, and less than 
one-seventh are of the negro race. 

Ii4. 8oon after the tirst settlements Avere estal)Iislied, Ken- 
tucky Ix'gan to l)e designated The Dark and Bloody Ground. 
There is some nncertainty as to the preiMse significance which 
attaches to the phrase as a whole; but it is most probable 
that the term "dark*' refers, not to the deeds which hnvv 
rendered the state a l)h)ody ground, but to the natural 
appearance of the country when the wdiite man came to take 
possession. A vast region, covered Avith an almost contin- 
uous forest, whose shades in any except the brightest weather 
AA^ould give it a gloomy aspect, and more especially so when 
the great solitude was un])roken by the voi(^e and occupations 
of civilized men — all this made it to bo titly termed dark; 
while the immerous sanguinary engagements which for a long 
series of years, preceding and closely folloAving tlie coming of 
the i)ioneers, made it a land of blood. Tlio })hraso that thus 
early gained currency had in it an element of pro})hetic mean- 
ing, for besides the many localities made memora))le by sav- 
age atrocities asAvell as by pitched battles betAveen Avhite men 
and Indians, there are more than a hundred j)laces Avhere con- 
thcts occurred on KentuckA^ soil durino; the irreat civil Avar. 



THE EARLIEST VISIT BY WHITE MEN. 



31 



CHAPTER III. 

FROM THE EARLIEST VISIT BY WHITE MEX TILL THE TRANSYL- 
VANIA COMPANY WAS OR(4ANIZED. 

1. For more than lifty years after the tirst settlement was 
made in Yirgiuiu the countiy lying westward between the Alle- 
ghanies and the Mississippi river was to white men an unknown 
region. In 16G0 the Menguy Indians came from the north- 
east to make war upon the Shawnees, who then inhabited 
Kentucky, and as the invaders carried fire-arms procured from 




INDIAN WKrWAM. 



the French in Canada, it is probable that French adventurers 
were among them; but the first white visitor of whom we 
have any record was the great explorer La Salle, who is said 
to have come down the Ohio in 1G70 and landed at the Falls 
of Ohio, where Louisville now stands. For a hundred years 
[)ri()r to 1750, however, it is certain that boatmen on the Ohio 
and Mississippi at least viewed the adjacent shores, and prob- 
able that they occasionally landed and hunted in the forest; 
and as earlv as 17.') 1 manv whites were found bv Gist on both 



32 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

sides the Ohio near where Portsmouth now stands, who had 
come to trade with the Indians. 

2. In lli)0 the first party of white men to penetrate the 
wilderness was led by Dr. Thomas Walker, of Virginia. They 
came by way of Powell's Valley, through a gap in Laurel 
mountain, and travelled as far as central Kentuckv. Walker 
named that branch of the Alleghanies now known as Cumber- 
land mountains, in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, and 
gave to Shawnee river also the name of Cumberland. These 
men built near the i)oint at which they first entered the first 
cabin erected in Kentucky. 

3. In 17;)1 Ca])t. Christopher Gist came as agent of the 
Ohio Land Company, which had from Virginia a grant of 
500,000 acres, to explore with a view to locating desirable 
lands. He sto})ped at Shawiieetown near the mouth of the 
Scioto river, and explored as far down as Big Bone Lick ; 
then reached the Kentucky river and followed that to the 
mountains and crossed over to the Kanawha on his way back 
to North Carolina. From his report Lewis Evans made the 
first map of Kentucky, a revised copy of which was published 
in 1755. 

4. The first white women known to have set foot on Ken- 
tucky soil were Mrs. Mary Inglis and a Dutch woman, who, 
in 1756, escaped from captivity at Big Bone Lick. You will 
find a short account of them at the end of this chapter. 

5. In 1758 Dr. Walker came again to Kentucky, but gained 
little additional knowledge, and did not attemj)t to settle. 

6. In 17()5 Col. George Croghan came from Pittsburgh 
down the Ohio to make surveys. He and his party went on 
this journey as far as the Mississippi river. His were the 
first surveys made in the Ohio valley southward. 

7. John Finley, with a few companions, came from North 
Carolina in 17G7, to hunt and trade with the Indians. They 
established a camp on Red river, in the neighl)orhood of where 
Clark, Estill and Powell counties touch each other. Their 




FINLKY, THE DISCOVERER OK KENTUCKY. 
33 



34 YOUNG people's HlSToriV OF KENTUCKY. 

explorations doubtless took ;i comparative ely Avide range, though 
they did not remain long. When they returned to North Caro- 
lina their account of wh:it they had seen excited in others a 
desire to visit the Avonderf ul country described. 

8. I notice now some occurrences out of their retjular 
order (except the first), to which you should pay especial 
attention, because they gave rise among the whites themselves 
to conflicting claims to the lands of Kentucky, and because 
they led settlers to believe that when they were driving the 
Indians from the territory they were not wantonly outraging 
that sense of right which demands that even a savage shall 
have some compensation when his property is to pass into 
other hands. 

9. By royal charter from the British government, Avhich, 
at the time when colonies were planted in North America, did 
not respect the red man's title to his home, Virginia was 
recognized as having dominion over every thing westward, 
between certain parallels, from the Atlantic to the Mississippi 
river, if not farther. This great domain included what is now 
West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky. Subsequently, however, 
the English deemed it })roper to treat with the Mohawks or 
Six Nations for all of Kentucky east of the Tennessee river. 
The Mohawks based their claim upon the fact that they had 
conquered the Shawnees who owned the territory. At Fort 
Stanwix, New York, in October, 1768, a council Avas held and 
the Six Nations ceded their claims on condition of receiving 
from the English about fifty thousand dollars. The ShaAvnees 
refused to relin(]uish their title, and in October, 1774, Lord 
Dunmore, governor of Virginia, made a treaty Avith them at 
Old Chillicothe, Ohio, after their defeat at Point Pleasant 
had made them sue for peace. By this treaty they ceded the 
territory to Virginia. 

10. The Cherokees on the upper Tennessee, Avho had been 
driven out of Kentucky by the ShaAvnees and their allies before 
the coming of white men, still asserted their right to part of 



THK p:arliest visit nv white mex. 35 

the lands; and when the Transylvania C()jnj)anv (of which I 
am to tell you hereafter) was organized, Daniel Boone was 
employed to negotiate with these Indians for their title. 
March 17th, 177'), at Sycamore Shoals, ontheWataga, a ])ranch 
of the Ilolston river, the company purchased, for ahout fifty 
thousand dollars, all the lands lying between the Ohio and 
Cumlx'rland rivers and west and south of Kentucky river, 
stretching from Louisville to Nashviik^ 

11. Another claim remained undis})osed of. The CUiickasaw 
Indians maintained till October l!»th, isls, their title to that 
])art of Kentucky lying bet ween the Tennessee and Mississi])])i 
rivers now known as Jackson's Purchase. This was bought 
that year by the Unitetl States. Thus, you see, the whites 
ac(]uired l)v treaty and purchase the claims which the Indians 
disregarded and coni})elled them to make g(Kjd l)y twenty years 
of bloody conflict. 

12. May 1st, 17()!), Daniel Boone, with tive com])anions, 
one of whom was John Finlcv, acting as guide, set out from 
their home on the Yadkin river in North Carolina, and on the 
7th of June reached the })lace on Red river at which Finley 
had made his head(|uarters in 1767. They hunted together 
during the summer and autumn, but in early winter, having 
ex))erienced no molestation, they became incautious and divided 
into two parties. Boone, accom[)anied by John Stewart, [)ro- 
ceeded towards the Kentucky river, near which, on the 22nd 
of December, they were surprised by Indians and caj)tured. 

13. For some days, as their captors marched with them, 
they were closely watched and guarded, but by the seventh 
night the Indians had relaxed their vigilance and all fell 
soundly asleej). The crafty demeanor of the prisoners, who 
a|)peared indifferent, and even cheerful, deceived their cap- 
tors. Boone remained awake ; and when he found by stealthily 
observing the Indians that all were in deep sleep he awoke 
Stewart. Securing their rifles, thev were soon out of hear- 
ing and in rapid flight. They found their old camp, but their 




DAMEL BOU^E ALONE IN THE WILDEUNESS OF KENXLCKY. 

36 



THK KAHLIKST VISIT BY WHITE MK^S. 87 

ff)ui- (•()iiii);rni()ns wore ooiic and the cainp had hccii dcsjioiU'd. 
Xothhjg is known as to the fate of Fudcy and the three men 
who had stayed with him. Boone and Stewart now hunted as 
before for their sul)sisten('e — ehunging their sleeping phioc 
from time to time for fear the Indians mio;ht return to their 
cabin. In January, 1770, Boone's brother Squire, who, with 
one man, had set out from North Carolina to find him, dis- 
covered the two by their eanip-tire, and for some time thev 
all hunted together. Again a separation took place. Daniel 
Boone and Stewart Avent huntijig far beyond the camp and 
were suddenly set upon hy the Indians, who killed and scalped 
StcM'art. He was the first white ihan known to have met this 
fate in Kentucky. Boone escaped and returned to his brother. 
A sliort time afterward the man who had come with Scjuire 
wandered away alone and was never seen again. His fate was 
not certainly ascertained; but bones were found which led to 
the belief that he became entangletl in a swamp and either 
died of starvation or was killed by wolves. 

14. The two brothers continued here their roving life until 
May, 1770; when, their ammuniliou having grown scarce, it 
was agreed that S(iuire should rel urn home and bring a supply 
of this and other necessary things. He departed on this mis- 
sion, and Daniel was left without even the com|)aiiionship of 
man's faithful friend, the dog, as the one that had been with 
them followed the home-going brother. On the 27th of July 
S(juire returned to Ihe sjjot agreetl upon. He had come with 
two horses, on(> hiden v.ith jjowder, ball, and other articles. 
During his absence. Daniel had roamed over many new sec- 
tions — havinj'' jione as far as the Ohio river and travelled along 
its shores. 

15. For seven or eight nu)ntlis after Stjuire's return they 
souofht to extend their knowledije of the countrv — tracing the 
course of streams and giving them names; also making a 
more particular exanimation of all the features of central 
Kentucky, It ai)pears that about this time Daniel Boone first 



38 YOUX(} PEOPLK's HISTOHV of KENTUCKY. 

foiiceived the idea of bi-iuginuj his family and iiiakiiio- Jus 
home here. He had now a definite object in view — the selec- 
tion of a spot upon which to locate. He iinallj made choice 
of a point on the Kentucky river, and in March, 1771, the 
brothers set out on their return to their homes on the Yadkin, 
which they reached when Daniel had been absent nearlj^ two 
years. 

16. During the same year in Avhich Boone's party left 
North Carolina for Kentucky (17()!l), Col. James Knox, one 
of forty men from the valleys of New, Holston, and Clinch 
rivers, in Virginia, came in, undtn- the leadership of Knox, hy 
a more southerly route. Their object was hunting and trap- 
ping; and their influence upon the history of the state was of 
little consequence except that it extended the knowledge of :i 
hitherto unexplored region and increased the tide of inunigra- 
tion which set in soon afterward. They established a camp 
and depot of supplies, which were to be deposited every tivc 
weeks, at Price's Meadow, about six miles from where IVIonti- 
cello now stands. They hunted south and west. Two boat 
loads of skins and wild meats were sent down the Cumberland 
river under charge of ten of the party, for sale to the Span- 
ish garrison at Natchez, on the Mississippi, from which place 
the boatmen returned to Virginia. Some Avho had remained 
witli Knox were lost in the forest; others, separating from 
the main body, reached home at times of which we have no 
record; but Knox, with a part}' of nine, turned northward in 
the autumn and found and probably named Dick's river. 
More than a year afterward, the i)arty was increased by the 
return of some of the men who had gone to Natchez and others 
from the old settlements, and went farther west. Some 
time in 1771 they built on the site of Mount Gilead church, 
nine miles east of Greensburgh, another house for deposit and 
shelter, and from here hunted south and west over Green, 
Hart, Barren, and contiguous counties. They returned to Vir- 
ginia after an absence of two years Avithout having met the 



TIIR KARIJKST VISIT HV WIHTK ISIEN. 



39 



Booiic pai'lx, or wen knowing that tlicy wore in tlic country. 
After the depiirturo of the.se two bands of hunters, nothing 
of special note occurred for two years. 

17. September 2.)th, 177^), Daniel Boone with his own and 
five other families set out for that })att of Kentucky where he 
had determined to make his home. In Powell's Valley the}^ 
were joined by forty men. When near Cumberland Gap, 
October lOth, they were suddenly attacked by Indians, and 
before the men could rall}^ and drive them off, six of the whites 




I' 1. 'J 







STATE AKSKNAI. AT FRANKFORT. 



wei-e killed, Boone's oldest son being one of them. This was 
so dreadful a blow, falling where they least expected danger, 
that Boone and other resolute persons who were for pushing 
on could not prevail upon the rest, and, their dead having 
been buried,' they went back to their several homes. 

18. Somewhat previous to this time Virginia had granted 
land bounties to her surviving soldiers of the French and 
Indian war. These lands were to be located westward ; and 
as the accounts carried back by Finley, the Boones, Knox and 
others, had created a wide-spread interest, various parties of 



40 VOITNC PEOPLK S HISTORY < ►F KKXTITCKV. 

surveyors caiiie in 177."J iiiul ex[)l(>i';iti()ns were greatly ex- 
tended. One company, of wliich Thomas Bullitt became the 
leader, left Virginia, in the spring of 177o, and, proceeding 
to the Ohio, passed leisurely down by boat. A part of 
them reached the mouth of Beargrass creek, July 8th, and 
encamped a short distance above. For the greater security, 
their nights wore generally spent on Corn Island, opposite 
where Louisville now stands. For six weeks they made sur- 
veys along the river and southward as far as Salt river in 
Bullitt county. 

19. The McAfees (three.brothers), with others, left Botte- 
tourt county, Virginia, about the same time and came across 
to Kanawha river, where they took canoes and a small lioat for 
the Ohio. Oil their journey they overtook the Bullitt party 
(May 21)), and remained with them till they reached the mouth 
of Kentucky river. They went up this to Drcnnon's Lick, in 
Henry county, where the}^ found a man named Drennon who 
had come across from Big Bone and reached the Lick the day 
before. Here they took a track beaten through ahnost impass- 
able cane-brakes by wild animals seeking the springs, and 
followed it up the river to a ])()int opposite Lee's Town, below 
Frankfort, where they crossed over. Turning south, they 
surveyed the bottom in which Frankfort now stands, July Gth, 
the first survey made on the Kentucky. The bi )undary (U'scribed 
comprised six hundred acres . They then went up the ridge along 
the present Lexington road and turning to the right crossed 
the Kentucky seven miles alcove Frankfort. The next encamp- 
ment was at Lillard's Spring near Lawrenceburgh. From 
here they hunted westwardly to Salt river and down this to 
Hammond's creek, from Avhich point they surveyed to the 
mouth of the branch on which Harrodsburgh now stands. 
During this journey from the mouth of the Kentucky, two of 
the party, one of whom was Hancock Taylor, went to join 
Bullitt on the B3argrass. On the 31st of July, the others 
took a course nearly southeast across Dick's river and on the 



I 



THK KARLIKST VISIT I'.V WHITK MK\. 41 

r)tli of Auffust roached the forks of the Keuluckv. On their 
ascent of the iiiomitaiii cDiiiitry, over a route hitherto untrod- 
den by white men, and rendered difficult not alone by its 
roughness but in places by tangled brushwood, vines and 
briers, and at times finding it impossible to procure either suf- 
ficient food or water, they became so foot-sore and exhausted 
as almost to despair, but managed to kill sufficient game to 
preserve life, though at one time two days without food. At" 
length they struck a hunter's |)ath across the head of Powell's 
Valley and reached their Virginia homes. 

20. During this 3^ear three deputies of William Preston, 
who was surveyor for Flncastle county, Virginia (as Ken- 
lucky was then designated), Avero hero surveying and locat- 
ing lands for themselves and others. These deputies were 
Hancock Tavlor, who was awhile with the McAfees; James 
Douglas, who sto})ped on his w.iy to the Falls of Ohio, 
whither Bullitt had preceded him, to view the wonders at Big 
Bone Lick, of which accounts had already gone abroad; and 
John Floyd, who made many surveys along the banks of the 
Ohio, one of which was for locating a tract in Lewis county 
for Patrick Henry, the orator of the Revolution. 

21. Simon Kenton, afterward to become famous as a Ken- 
tucky pioneer, came down the Ohio this year with a party who 
wished to join Bullitt. Failing to find him at the mouth of 
the Miami river, where report had led them to expect him, 
thev supposed that he and his followers had been killed or 
captured bv the Indians, and concluded to return. Kenton, 
having previously been for a short time on a hunting expe- 
dition between the Kanawha and Kentucky rivers, and know- 
inor somethinir of the countrv, led them back throutrh the 
counties of Boone, Kenton and others to the southeast, across 
the Big Sandy, to'the settlements in Virginia. 

22. In May, 1774, James Harrod led a party of forty hunt- 
ers and surveyors from ]Monongahela county, Virginia. Boat- 
ing down the Ohio to a point opposite the Licking river they 



4'2 VOIINOJ PEOrLK's HISTORY OF KEXTICKY. 

tarried there fur u few days, diirino; which they felled the tirst 
trees on the ground where Cincinnati now stands. Shortly 
afterward they probably went down as far as the Falls, but 
returned to the Kentucky river and ascended it in canoes 
to what is now Oregon Landing in Mercer county. They 
explored to the southward and selected the present site of 
Ilarrodsburgh as a place to begin permanent settlement, and 
l)uilt the tirst cabin on a spot in Kentucky laid off and plotted 
to become a town. June 16th, 1774, is given as the date of 
the founding of the oldest town in the state — called for some 
years Harrodstown. Several eligible spots for residence were 
selected, surveys made for farms, and cabins erected. These 
were assigned by lot. Two, near the present town of Dan- 
ville, fell to John Crow and James Brown; about Boiling 
Spring, six miles from Harrodsburgh, James Harrod and 
others were located ; while cabins three miles east of Harrods- 
))urgh, fell to James Wiley and others. John Harman raised 
the first crop of corn in the settlement. 

23. Towards the last of July, four of Harrod' s men were 
out surveying three miles below Harrodsburgh, when they 
were fired upon by concealed Indians. Jared Cowan was 
killed. One of the party made his way back to the camp; 
but Jacob Sandusky and another man, believing that the set- 
tlement had been surprised and probably destroyed, went to 
the Falls and afterward by a circuitous water and land route 
reached Virginia. 

24. During this summer Hancock Taylor, leading a party 
who were surveying along the Kentucky, was shot from 
ambush by Indians, near the mouth of the river, in Carroll 
county, and died in a few days as his companions were trying 
to convey him to his old home. 

25. Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia, having sent for 
Daniel Boone and requested him to go to the Falls of Ohio and 
guide back through the wilderness some men whom he had 
sent to Kentucky on a surveying expedition, he chose as a 



THE EARLIKST VISIT lU WHITE MEN. 43 

coiupjinion MichiU'l Sloner, and sot out June 6tli, 1774. lie 
was also to call wherever he knew white men to be encanii)ed 
and warn them to return at once to the states. The Shaw- 
nees had induced other northern tribes to unite with them in 
a campaign of extermination against Virginia, and the small 
bodies of whites in Kentucky were in imminent danger. Boone 
and Stoner reached Ilarrodstown soon after the real work of 
settlement began, and the entire party left their new homes 
and went back to Virginia. Thus the territory was abandoned 
for a time. Dunmore had ordered the enlistment of three 
thousand men, who were organized in two divisions, the 
right wing under his own command, the left under that of 
(ien. Andrew Lewis. Boone was ordered to take general 
charge of three garrisons along the border. The right wing 
j)roceeded to Pittsburgh, the left to the mouth of the Kana- 
wiia, where General Lewis met the allied savages, fifteen hun- 
dred strong, while his own force was but eleven hundred. At 
Point Pleasant, October 10th, a long and desperate battle 
ensued, in which the Indians were defeated and driven back 
to their villages beyond the Ohio. Dunmore came down 
with the right wing, and proceeded with his whole command 
to Old Chillicothe. The Indians sued for peace, and, as 
has previously been told you, they relinquished all claim to 
Kentucky. 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

I. Thomas Bullitt. — This gentleman, who surveyed about 
the Falls in 177;}, as 1 have already told you, and in August of 
that year laid out a town on ground now covered by Louisville, 
had a most daring adventure on his way down the river to 
that place. lie stopped at a point on the Ohio opposite Old 
CMiillicothe, and went alone to that place to confer with the 
Indians. Approaching with a white handkerchief displayed 
as a flag of truce, he succeeded in removing their suspicions; 
induced them to call a council for the next day; and at this 



44 YOUNG PEOl'LE S HISTOKV OF Ki:NTi:('IvY. 

couucil, diu-iiig which he seems to have been frank in stating 
the purpose of the white men to settle in Kentuclcy, he 
obtained their consent to proceed — and at length left them in 
perfect good humor. 

II. First AVliite Women in Kentucky. — In 175(> Mrs. 
Mary Inglis, who had been a Miss Draper, was captured in 
Montgomery county of what is now West Virginia, by Shaw- 
nee Indians. Her two little boys, Mrs. Draper (her sister- 
in-law), and others, were also made })risoners. They were 
taken to the salt regions of the Kanawha; thence to the 
Indian village at the mouth of the Scioto, in Ohio. Afterward 
Mrs. Inglis had to go with the Indians on a salt-making expe- 
dition to Big Bone Lick in Boone county, Kentucky. Here 
she induced an old Dutch woman, who had long been a pris- 
oner, to attempt to escape with her. Oljtaining leave to gather 
grapes, they managed to carry off a blanket, a tomahawk, and 
a knife, but, to avoid suspicion, took neither additional cloth- 
ing nor food. Going to the Ohio river, they followed this u|), 
and in five days reached a ])oint opposite the Indian village, 
the home of their captors. Resting that night in an empty 
cabin on this side the Ohio, next morning they loaded a horse 
found grazing near by with corn which they had discovered, 
and went on up to the mouth of the Big Sandy. They could 
not cross there, but higher up they attempted to cross on drift- 
wood with the horse. He became entangled and had to be 
left. Taking what corn they could, they went on towards the 
Kanawha river, living upon the corn, grapes, nuts, roots, etc., 
for many days. The Dutch woman at last became wild with 
hunger and other suffering, and tried to kill Mrs. Inglis; but 
she broke away, reached the Kanawha, found a canoe in which 
she crossed over, and at last, after forty and a half days, 
having travelled about twenty miles a day, her strength now 
almost gone, her feet and limbs swollen with cold and fatigue, 
she reached the residence of a white family, whose kind and 
careful treatment soon so restored her that she was able to go 
on home. She sent help to the Dutch woman, who was 
brought in and at last restored to health. One of Mrs. Inglis's 
little boys died among the Indians, and the other was a pris- 
oner for thirteen years before he was found and ransomed by 
his father. This is one example of the dangers and sufferings 



THE EAULIKST VISIT BY WllITK MEN. 45 

to which the })i()neers of the west were subjected, and which 
even women so bravely encountered and so wonderfully bore. 
III. The Hunter's Rifle. — Few young people of this gen- 
oration haA'e any knowledge of the weapon which their pioneer 
fore-fathers made so effective in ])rocuring their suj)plies of 
meat, and so deadly in conflict, and a l)rief description is a}:)pro- 
priate. In the hands of those accpiiunted only with breech- 
loading repeaters, needle guns, metal cartridges, &c., the 
hunter's rifle would seem a clumsy fire-arm, incapable of 
doing rapid execution: but it was a great improvement on the 
b!uuderl)uss and similar guns used by the early settlers of 
America. It was a rifle of small bore, for which a ])()und of 
lead would make from seventy to one hundred and twenty 
round bullets, ma<le by pouring the melted lead into iron 
moulds. The barrel was heavy, and usually considerably 
longer than that of the gun with which the State Guard is 
now armed. To load it required more motions, more care, 
and more time than is necessary to load and fire deliberately 
every chainl)er of the Winchester. The process involved the 
use of a "charger" (a horn or bone receptacle holding just 
the requisite amount of powder), into which the })Owder was 
poured from a horn or flask ; from the charger this was 
poured into the barrel ; the placing of a bit of domestic (the 
))atching) on the muzzle and the bullet on that; then the 
drawing of the ramrod from the tliim))lcs which held it to the 
underside of the barrel, and ramming the ball down; then the 
j)owder-horn was again to be unstop})ed and the "pan" of the 
rifle (at the touch-hole) to be filled and the steel-faced frizzle 
drawn down upon it; lu^xt the hannner containing the flint for 
striking fire into the })an was to be cocked, and the gun was 
ready to be aimed and discharged. When the distance did 
not exceed one hundred yards, it was an effective weapon, 
though not as death-dealing in war, even within its range, as 
the modern rifle, which carries a heavy conical l)all. The per- 
cussion cap did not come into general use until about the 
middle of the })resent century, and the metal cartridge until 
many years afterward. The pioneer hunters and fighters were 
skillful marksmen, and with them the process of loading, which 
to the men of this day would be tedious, was executed, in time 
of action, with almost incredible rapidity. 



46 YOUNCJ feoplk's history of Kentucky. 

IV. The Hunting- Shirt. — This, of which you hear and read 
in conneetion with the })ioneers, was but one part of a hunter's 
garb, all of which was generally of the same character. The 
so-called shirt was a loose frock coat, with a cape, made of 
dressed deerskin. Leggings, and shoes (called moccasins) 
were usually of the same material ; and cape, coat, and leg- 
gings were often fringed. Many of the backwoodsmen wore 
caps made of the skins of wild animals. For this pur})ose the 
coonskin was the favorite. The under garments, except woloen 
or cotton socks, were of home-made cotton cloth. In a leather 
belt was hung, on the right side, a, hatchet, or tomahawk; on 
the left, a hunting or butcher knife, a })owder horn, and a 
pouch for bullets, tlints, and cloth (called "patching"), in 
which the bullets were inclosed when the rifle was loaded. 

V. The Tomahawk. — Before white traders introduced the 
use of iron or steel among the Indians, this dreadful imple- 
ment of war Avas sometimes the horn of a deer secured near 
the end of a })iece of wood for a handle — and somewhat resem- 
bled a pickax. Another i)lan was to sharpen a stone at both 
ends, and fasten it by thongs near one end of the handle, 
which w^as split to receive it. When Europeans began to 
trade with the Indians, the steel-edged hatchet soon came into 
use among them. The "pipe-tonuihawk," sometimes alluded 
to in writings about the Indians, w^as their hatchet wnth the 
blunt end formed into a })i})e-bowl, which comnumicated with 
a hollow nuide in the handle; so that instead of smoking an 
ordinary pipe the Indian who owned one of these smoked his 
tomahawk. 

VI. The Long- Hunters. — The term "Long Hunters" was 
ap}>lied to the Knox party only, who Avere absent in Kentucky 
from 1769 to 1771, though Boone renuuned fully as long. 

VII. Long Knife. — Indians called the Virginians (and 
afterwards the Kentuckians) Long Knife, or Big Knife, 
1)ecause they were the tirst men whom they knew to carry 
such a weapon, or a short sword, on hunting or warlike 
expeditions. 



THE TRA^yTLVANIA C03IPANY. 47 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY. BOONE's TRACE OR THE 

WILDERNESS ROAD, ETC. 

1774-177G. 

1. Ill the autumn of this year (1774) occurred an event 
which notably increased ininiigration, and for some years 
exerted an active inttuonce in settling Kentucky. Judge Eich- 
:ird Henderson, of (iiMiiville county, North Carolina, organ- 
ized a comijany for the purchase of about two-thirds of the 
territory now comprised in the bounds of this state. Not- 
withstanding the chartered rights of Virginia and the fact 
that Dunmore's treaty extinguished, in favor of that state, 
the entire Shawnee claim, these gentlemen made haste after 
the l)attle of Point Pleasant to recognize the pretensions of 
the Cherokees in Tennessee, Avho asserted that the land from 
which they had long before been driven was still their own. 

2. With Henderson Avere associated eight gentlemen of 
Virginia and North Carolina; but he was the originator of 
the scheme and the active agent in its execution. The asso- 
ciation was to be known as the Transylvania Compan}'^ ; and 
the territory aciiuired took the name of Transylvania, which 
name was for some time used in s})eaking of the whole region 
of Kentucky and was applied to the first great institution of 
learning Avest of the mountains, the Transylvania University. 
At the Sycamore shoals, on the Wataga river, a tributary of 
the Ilolston, in what is now northeast Tennessee, the com- 
pany, aided by Daniel Boone, whose services they had engaged, 
made preliminary arrangements with the Cherokee Indians for 
a treaty which was to be formally entered into a few months 
later. Accordingly, Boone, with Henderson and other members 
of the company, met them at Wataga in February, 1775. After 
a conference of twenty' daAs an agreement was reached, and on 



48 YOUXG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

the 1 7th of March the treaty was })erfected, the company pay- 
ing about $50,000 for perpetual ri<2;ht and title to all the lands 
claimed by the Cherokees as their hunting grounds in Ken- 
tucky and that part of Tennessee lying southward between 
the southern ])oui^lary of Kentucky and the Cumberland 
river. The territory was described as including all the terri- 
tory bounded on the north by the Ohio river, on the east by 
the Kentucky river and the Cumberland mountains, on the 
south and west by the Cumberland river. 

3. Boone had previously been employed to open a road for 
men and pack-horses from Clinch river to the inoutli of Otter 
creek, on the Kentucky river. This was afterward known as 
Boone's Trace. It appears that a week before the "Wataga con- 
ference closed Boone left it in company with some men from 
North Carolina, who were on their way to Kentucky, and pro- 
ceeded to Long Island in Ilolston river, to meet his brother 
and others whom he had engaged to assist him ; and with 
about thirty Avell-armed men he set out from Long Island, 
March 10th, 1775, to mark the road. It was to be nothing 
more than a practicable route, straightforward as possible, 
for men and horses, the Avork required being sinn)ly to re- 
move, with ax or hatchet, sufficient bark of trees, at inter- 
vals, to make a white and clearly discernible spot, and cut- 
tin2[ out the undersfrowth where necessarv. This marking of 
trees Avas called, in pioneer phrase, "blazing the way." 

4. They made such rapid progress that by March 20th they 
were Avithin fifteen miles of where Richmond noAV stands. 
Here Indians attacked them, killing two men and wounding 
two. They drove off the savages and pressed on : but before 
they reached the Kentucky river they Avere again tired upon. 
Two men AA^ere killed and three Avounded. By April 1st they 
had reached the mouth of Otter, and about sixty yards south 
of Avhcre the railroad from Richmond to Winchester now 
crosses the Kentuckv, and near a salt lick, thcA' began to build 



1 



THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY. 



49 



Boonesborough — a fort, the walls of which were Diade in part 
of the back- walls of cabins and in part of strong timbers set 
uprioht firmly in the ground. Four days afterward the Indians 
killed jinother man. Some time during April, Henderson 
arrived with thirty fighting men to re-enforce them, and about 
the middle of June the stockade and cabins were completed. 

5. Before this time, however, Henderson had taken import- 
ant steps toward colonizmg Transjdvania. Soon after his 
arrival, he issued a call for a convention at Boonesborough, to 
be comi)osed of delegates 
from the })rinci})al settle- 
ments, to form a govern- 
ment. Boonesborough 
chose six of its leadnig 
men; St. Asaph's, or 
Logan's Fort, four; whil«' 
Harrodstown and Boiling- 
Spring, both embraced in 
Harrod's settlement, se- 
lected four each. At 
Boonesborough, jSI ay 
23rd, 1775, the meeting 

was opened with prayer by the Rev. John Lvthe, and the 
convention was organized. Henderson m;ide a speech set- 
ting forth the work to be done, to which the chairman made 
due response. Proceeding with all the formality of a legis- 
lature, the assembly appointed a committee to represent the 
people in the making of a constitutional compact, while Hen- 
derson and two others were to represent the company. The 
constitution was made and signed by these members of the 
company and by the chairman of the committee for the peo- 
ple. A code of laws embraced in nine acts was passed and 
recorded, as follows : ( 1 ) To establish courts of justice and 
regulate practice in them; (2) To provide for a militia; (3) 
To punish criminals; (4) To prevent profane swearing and 
4 




BOONESBOROUGH STOCKADE. 



50 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

Sabbath-breaking; (5) To provide for writs of attachments ; 
(6) To regulate clerks' and sheriffs' fees; (7) To impose 
conditions for the use of the range or public pasture; (8) To 
preserve the breed of horses; and (D) To preserve the game. 
The company had already established a land office at Boones- 
borough and made known the terms upon which land would 
be granted to settlers. It took upon itself the cost of furnish- 
ing all supplies of powder and lead for the defense of families 
and of the country. The terms were so reasonable and were 
so to continue for more than a year, that notwithstanding 
some provisions and penalties that would ultimately have sub- 
jected the settlers to great losses, immigration materially 
increased, and by December more than five hundred and sixty 
thousand acres had been sold. 

6. The contract or agreement, "for the peace of the pro- 
prietors and the security of the people," above alluded to, 
gave the Transylvania Company dangerous power over the 
rights and liberties of the settlers, in spite of the reasonable 
code of laws enacted at the time ; and it was not long before 
reflection on the part of the delegates and the peo[)le led them 
to feel that they had been craftily dealt with. Before the year 
closed another circumstance occasioned uneasiness : increased 
prices for lands and extravagant fees for entry and survey were 
announced. The people became alarmed, and in December, 
1775, a petition, signed by eighty-four men, was forwarded to 
the Virginia Assembly, setting forth the cause of dissatisfac- 
tion, and asking that state to assert its jurisdiction over the 
territory claimed by the Transylvania Company. The con- 
vention never re-assembled, though it had adjourned to do so in 
September. The company attempted to secure representation 
in the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, but their delegate 
was refused admission. Governor Dunmore issued a proc- 
lamation declaring illegal the Wataga purchase of lands over 
which Virginia had asserted claim, and the governor of North 
Carolina did so with respect to lands now in Tennessee, When 



THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANT. 51 

George Rogers Clark went to Virginia in 1776 (as will be noticed 
subsequently) to obtain means of defense for Kentucky, he 
succeeded not only in that but in haying the "Wataga purchase 
declared null and yoid, in s})ite of the efforts of Henderson 
and his associates, and Kentucky made a county of Virginia. 

7. Subsequently, November 4th, 1778, the Virginia Assem- 
bly resoh'cd that though the company's title was void, it had 
been at great expense in purchasing and settling said lands, and 
it was but just and reasonable that they should be comi)ensated. 
Some time afterward it was enacted by the general assembly 
of Virginia that to Richard Henderson & Company be granted 
200,000 acres of land in a body, extending along the Ohio for 
twenty-five miles, and up Green river twelve and a half miles, 
an ecjual area on each side of the latter stream ; and North 
Carolina granted them also 200,000 acres in the })resent state 
of Tennessee. 

8. In May, 177.'), Simon Kenton came again to Kentucky, 
in company with Thomas AVilliams. They landed at the mouth 
of Cabin creek, and went out to where Washington, Mason 
county, now is. Here they built a cabin. Hunting inland, 
along the Licking, they visited the Up[)er and the Lower Blue 
Lit'ks, and one day fell in with two men who seemed to have 
been lost in the wilderness — Fitzpatrick and Hendricks. The 
former wished to return to Virginia, but Hendricks chose to 
remain. He was left at the cabin when Kenton and Williams 
set out to pilot Fitzpatrick to the Ohio. When they came 
back, they found the charred remains of Hendricks, whom 
the Indians had captured and burnt at the stake. He was the 
first white man to lose his life in Kentucky in this barbarous 
manner, and the last, as far as is known, though others met this 
fate at the Indian towns on the borders. Kenton and Williams 
cleared an acre of ground, on which they raised this year a 
crop of corn. 

9. The victory of Point Pleasant, and the consequent favor- 
able treaty, gave such renewed im)mlsc,to emigration that 



52 YOUNG PEOI'LE'S history of KENTUCKY. 

even the earlier months of 1775, before the inducements offered 
by the Transylvania Company were widely known, brought con- 
stant accessions to the settlers in Kentucky. Extensive sur- 
veys were made and settlements begun at different points. 
Early in March, James Harrod came back to Harrodstown and 
again began the Avork of building, fortifvitig and clearing. 
John Floyd, who had been on a surveying expedition in 1773, 
came again early in May, 1775, and some time afterward set- 
tled on the middle fork of Beargrass creek, six miles from the 
Falls, at what was called Floyd's Station. During the spring, 
Benjamin Logan arrived from Virginia with a number of men 
and settled at the big sirring near the present town of Stanford. 
Towards the last of April some hunters and explorers were 
encamped on the present site of Lexington, Avhere news of the 
battle of Lexington, the first one of the revolution, reached 
them, and they named this place accordingly, though perma- 
nent settlement was not made there until some time afterward. 
lO. There were now three important settlements, while 
scattered here and there in other localities were small bodies 
of men. It was estimated that by June there were about three 
hundred men at Harrodstown, Boonesborough, Logan's Fort, 
and elsewhere m Kentucky. Thus, you see, by the time the 
Revolutionary war had fairly begun on the seaboard, a few 
settlements, that proved to be permanent, had been made in 
Kentucky, and a form of government established, which had 
its basis in that respect for law and order which characterizes 
the Anglo-Saxon race, rather than upon a greed of gain and a 
love of power on the part of Henderson and his associates. 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

I. Daniel Boone. — This man is justly regarded as first 
among the great pioneers of Kentucky, because he really 
opened the way for those who came Avilli a fixed purpose to 
settle here, and led Jhe van; because his ex})erience, sagacity, 



THE TRAXSVLVAKIA rOAFPANV 



)3 



Mild cour:i<i:e made scttlenuMit })i':iclicablc; and bccauso his 
patient, faithful, and always brave yet prudent service in 
behalf of his countrvnien contril)uted more than that of any 
other one man to make the settlements permanent and at last 
peaceful and pros])erous. Tie Avas the fourth son of Squire and 
Sarah ( Morijan) Boone; was born near Exeter, Bucks county, 
Pennsylvania, July 14th, 1732; lived there and at Reading, 
near the head-waters of the Schuylkill river, until he was 
eighteen or twenty years old, when his father moved to North 
Carolina, settling on the Yadkin river. His boyhood was 
passed in a region that was still a wnlderness country, in which 
wild animals, even of the more dangerous kind, were plentiful, 
and Indians occasionally appeared; and he had already devel- 
oped a ])assion for hunting and for 
the solitude of the woods. To a 
native fearlessness he added an im- 
perturbable presence of mind and 
great skill in the use of the rifle. 
He had so little chance to get educa- 
tion that his scholarship amounted to 
nothing more than the ability to read, 
to write an indifferent hand, and to 
nuilve simple arithmetical calcula- 
tions. In 1755, he was married to 
Rebecca Bryan, the daughter of a 
neighbor. Of five sons born to them, 
two, James and Israel, were killed 
by Indians ; their four daughters and 
three sons were married, and many Kentucky and Mis- 
souri families trace their connection with them. Previous 
to 17Gi) Boone had made comparatively long hunting excur- 
sions to the west, and is known to have been as far as the 
Wataga l)ranch of the Holston in Tennessee; but it was not 
till the year mentioned that his connection with the history of 
Kentucky begins. From that time the story of his life is so 
interwoven with that of our state that it is unnecessary to 
recount it here. 

Apparently he left his family in 17<)1), and was absent nearly 
two years, with no higher motive than to gratify a love of 
•hunting, to enjoy that solitude which evidently had a charm 
for him even before his boyish strength was equal to the 




DANIKL BOONE 



54 YouNa people's history of Kentucky. 

steadying of a rifle, and possibly to find some of the excite- 
ment of dangerous adventure; but afterward he came to feel 
that he had been led by a mysterious influence, as one ordained 
bv heaven to settle the wilderness, and that up to 1770, when 
he determined to make Kentucky his home, his thirty-eight 
years of life had been but one long course of training to fit 
him for it. Through lack of experience in civil affairs and of 
business aptitude, with a certain improvidence begotten of his 
manner of life, he began as early as 1779 to experience mis- 
fortunes which in 1795 culminated in his self-imposed exile 
from the state which he had done so much to establish. 
About four years after bringing his family to Boonesborough, 
he disposed of most of his little property in the old settlement 
for money with which to buy land warrants, and in this way 
obtained about $20,000 of the depreciated paper mone}^ of 
that time. The whole of this was stolen from him on his 
return to Kentucky after having perfected the transaction, 
and he was left destitute. He afterward entered lands in Ken- 
tucky, of which he was deprived because of defective or prior 
title. Saddened, discouraged, and somewhat embittered by 
what he attributed to the villainy of others rather than to his 
own lack of caution and disregard of business principles, he 
left Kentucky (November, 1795), and located on the Missouri 
river, fifty miles west of St. Louis, in what is now St. Charles 
county — then Spanish territory. The Spanish governor gave 
him ten thousand acres of land and appointed him to an office ; 
but he failed to perfect his title to this magnificent domain 
because it required a trip to New Orleans, and so lost that. 
Old, without a home, without knowledge of handicraft by 
which to obtain means to buy one, he appealed to Kentucky. 
In one of his petitions occurred the pathetic words: "I have 
not a spot of ground w^hereon to lay my bones." The staie 
asked Congress (February 8th, 1812) to donate to him out 
of the public domain ten thousand acres, which was done; but 
there seemed to be a fatality in connection with the heroic old 
woodman's desire to possess a moiety of the vast territory 
of which he had done much to make his countrymen lords ; 
and through lawsuits this last gift was soon lost, and he died 
landless. His passion for hunting and for the great solitudes 
seems never to have waned. When enfeebled by age he would 
wander away into remote forests, with a single companion, 



TIIK TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY 



r)5 



whom he bound bv written contract to take care of him and 
bring him home, dead or alive. When eighty-five years old he 
went on one of these excursions a hundred miles. In 1819 a 
distinguished American artist went to his home in Missouri to 
paint his portrait. A full-length painting now hangs in the 
House of Representatives in Frankfort. This w^as the work 
of a young Kentucky artist, W. C. Allen, who presented it to 
the state, December 9th, 1839. He died at the home of Flan- 
ders Calloway,, his son-in-law, in Charette, Missouri, Septem- 
ber 2r)th, 1820, in his eighty-ninth year. In 1845, the legisla- 
ture of Kentucky had the remains of himself and wife removed 




THE BOONE MONUMENT. 

to Franlcfort, where (September 13th) they were re-interred 
w^ith imposing ceremonies. He is described as having been 
"five feet ten inches high, and of robust and powerful propor- 
tions. His (Countenance was mild and contemplative — indicat- 
ing a frame of mind altogether different from the restlessness 
and activity that distinguished him." A distinguished author 
and statesman wrote of him while he was still living: "From 
the country of his choice and of his fondest predilection, he 
has been banished by difficulties he knew not how to surmount. 
»»*«** Yet history shall do him justice ; and those 
who come after him may balance his relative claims to the 
regards of posterity. ***** Xo appreciate the merit 



Ot) YOUNd people's history OF KENTUCKY. 

of an enterprise we should have in view the difficulties which 
opposed its execution. Eulogiunis on those who have founded 
great cities and states have been multiplied. ****** 
Boone and other pioneer Kentuckians merit the appellation of 
founders, and not less than the great ones of the past do they 
deserve the notice of su'osequent generations. Naturally his 
sagacity was considerable; and as a woodsman he was soon 
expert and ultimately supereminent. Far from ferocity, his 
temper was mild, humane, and charitable; his manners gentle; 
his address conciliating; his heart open to friendship and hos- 
pitality. Yet his most remarkable quality was an enduring 
and unshakable fortitude." 

In his Boonesborough address, Governor Morehead said: 
"Such were his qualities that with a very common education 
he was enabled to maintain, through a long and useful career, 
a. conspicuous rank among the most distinguished of his 
cotemporaries ; and the testimonials of public gratitude with 
which he was honored after death are never awarded by*an 
intelligent people to the undeserving. ***** He united 
in an- eminent degree the qualities of shrewdness, caution, 
and courage, with uncommon muscular strength. He was 
seldom taken by surprise, he never shrank from danger nor 
cowered beneath the pressure of exposure and fatigue. In 
every emergency he was a safe guide and a wise counsellor. 
* * * His judgment and penetration were proverbially accu- 
rate. * * * * It is not assuming too much to say that with- 
out him, in all probability, the settlements could not have 
been upheld, and the conquest of Kentucky might have been 
reserved for the emigrants of the nineteenth century. * * * * 
Resting on the solid advantages of his services to his country, 
his fame will survive when the achievements of men greatly 
his superiors in rank and intellect will be forgotten." 

He was a pure-minded, honorable man ; modetit and always 
ready to serve rather than to seek prominence as a leader ; 
brave without rashness ; and with a fortitude that nothing but 
death could overcome. 

II. Col. James Harrod. — The Hon. Humphrey Marshall, 
in his History of Kentucky (1824), says of this leader of the 
settlers of Harrodsl)uro:h : 

"Among the hardy sons of that hardy race of men called 
woodsmen and hunters was James Harrod — no less a soldier 



1 



TKl-i TKAXSYT.VAXIA COMPAXY 



f)- 



tlian a hunter. In 1774 ho joined Colonel Lewis, and with 
his followers was in the battle at the mouth of the Kana- 
wha ; the next year he returned to the place of his choice and 
there established himself. He was six feet high, well propor- 
tioned, and finely constructed for strength and activity. His 
com])lexion Avas dark; his hair and eyes black; his counte- 
nance animated; his gait firm; his deportment graye; his con- 
versation easily drawn out but not obtruded; his speech was 
mild and his manners conciliating, rather by the confidence 
they inspired than any grace or elegance they displayed. 
Yet, he could but imi)erfectly read or write. * * * It may 
be asked, what was there in the character of such a man that 
merits the notice of an historian ? * * * * Before the estab- 
lishment of schools ; before the term, 
education, was even known — aye, be- 
fore letters were invented — the human 
heart was the seat of kindness, of 
generosity, of fortitude, of magna- 
nimity, of all the social virtues. 
Without knowing ho^v to read or 
write, James Harrod could be kind 
and obliging to his fellow-men ; active 
and brave in their defense; dexterous 
in_ killing game (the source of sup- 
ply) and in the distribution of his 
spoils. He could be an expert pilot 
in the woods and guide his followers 
with certainty and safety. In fine, 
he could be a captain over others as 

illiterate as himself and less endowed with the useful and 
benevolent traits of the heart and the head ; and he was. He 
was vigilant, active, and skillful. He was always ready to 
defend his country and companions against the Indians. News 
is brought to him that the Indians had surprised a party four 
miles hence and killed a man. 'Boys,' says he to those 
about him, 'let us go and beat the red rascals;' then snatches 
up his gun and runs at their head. He hears that a family are 
in Avant of meat. He gets his rifle, repairs to the forest, kills 
the needful supply, and presently offers it to the sufferers. A 
plow-horse is in the range (a pasture without bounds), and 
the owner, yet unused to the woods, or apprehensive of the 




SENATOR 
HUMPHUKY MARSHALL. 



58 YOUNG people' 8 HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

danger attending search says to Harrod: 'My horse has not 
come up; I can't plow to-day.' 'What kind of a horse is 
yours?' he inquires. The answer is given; Harrod disap- 
pears; and in a little time the horse is driven to the owner's 
door. Those traits not only portray the character of Harrod 
but delineate the circumstances of the country. They belong 
to history. Usefulness is merit. * * * * ^ fQj.^, ^^g 
too circumscribed a field for his active disposition. To 
breathe the fresh air of the forest ; to range the woods and 
hunt game; to trap the otter, the beaver, and the wolf — 
were congenial to his feelings, and occupied most of his 
time. He was nevertheless actively engaged in the defense 
of the country on several expeditions into the Indian ter- 
ritory, as well as on various scouts and explorations on 
the frontiers. In these the dexterity of the woodsman and 
the bravery of the soldier were conspicuous and useful. 
There was no labor too great for his hardihood, no enterprise 
too daring for his courage. His comrades knew his personal 
worth and the public acknowledged his services. The rank of 
colonel which was conferred upon him is a durable testimonial 
in his favor. After the country became extensively popu- 
lated, and when he was a husband and father of a family, and 
in circumstances to enjoy every social comfort, such was the 
effect of habit or of an original disposition ever predominant, 
that he would leave his home, repair to distant and unsettled 
localities, and remain for weeks at a time, obscured in the 
forests or buried among knobs. On one of these expeditions 
he lost his life; whether by natural death, the fangs of wild 
beasts, or the tomahawk of the savage, is not known. He left 
one daughter, and with her an ample patrimony in rich lands. 
***** He was simple in his manners, frugal in his diet, 
independent in his sentiments, open in his counsels, complying 
in his conduct, seeming to command because always foremost 
in danger. If he ever consented to be a leader, it was of a 
hunting or a military band of his willing friends, whose safety 
he regarded as his own and whose obedience was voluntary. 
Born free and accustomed to control his own actions, one pas- 
sion predominated — a love of liberty. What he was himself 
he wished every other human creature to be — free. * * * * 
James Harrod will be remembered with affection and regret 
by the last of his comrades, and this memorial of his merits 



THK TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY. 59 

will descend to posterity." His wife maintained that he was 
murdered by a mjin named Bridges, who had a personal 
ofrud^e against him ffrowino' out of a lawsuit. 

III. Gen. Beiijainin Logan. — Like many other men of ac- 
tion whose names are inseparably connected with the histor}^ of 
Kentucky, Logan had little knowledge of books, but he had a 
quick and comprehensive mind, was a student of men, and had 
a practical turn for both private and public affairs. He was 
a man of commanding inlluence among his fellow-pioneers in 
their long contest with savages and in their courts and delib- 
erative l)odies. He has been described as having had "a com- 
manding form, which towered conspicuous amon^^ all — tall, 
athletic, and dignified; a face cast in the finest mould of manly 
beauty — dark, grave, and contemplative, and which, wdiile it 
evinced unyielding fortitude and impenetrable reserve, invited 
to a confidence which was never betrajed." He was born in 
Augusta county, Virginia, in 1742; when he was fourteen 
years old he lost his father and thus became the chief stay of 
his mother and several children younger than himself ; refused, 
when he became of age, 'to take advantage of the law that gave 
to the oldest son the father's lands, and, with his mother's 
consent, sold or divided them and shared equally with his 
brothers and sisters; aided by a brother he provided for the 
mother a home for life ; then removed to the Holston river, 
]nirchased land, married, and began farming there. It is prob- 
able that before settling on the Holston he had had his first expe- 
rience in warfare, as he was sergeant in a company of Virginia 
troops on Col. Henry Bouquet's expedition which resulted 
in the complete defeat of the Indians at Bushy Eun, August oth 
and fith, 1763, when he was about twenty-one years old. In 
1774 he served on Dunmore's campaign; in 1775, as we have 
seen, he joined the Boone i)arty on its way to Kentucky, but 
he is said to have distrusted Henderson's plans, and so he 
determined to form an independent settlement, for wdiich pur- 
pose he proceeded to the place afterward known as Logan's 
Station, near the present city of Stanford. He took with him 
Wm. Galaspy and two or three slaves: built a fort, cleared 
ground, and made a crop; went back to Virginia in the 
autunm and brought to the new home his other slaves and his 
cattle; returned again to Virginia and in March, 1776, brought 
his family ; and was thenceforth prominent in both the mili- 



60 Yorx(4 peoplf/s history of kextttcky. 

tai'v iiiid oivil affairs of the country. His services as a par- 
ticipant (and in most cases a leader) in conflicts with the 
Indians are noted in ensuing chapters. Instances of his deter- 
mined and self-sacriticing courage occurred during the siege of 
his station which began May 2()th, 1777. When the concealed 
Indians fired that morning u[)on the men who were guarding 
the women engaged outside milking their cows, and Burr 
Harrison, badly wounded, fell before he could reach the gate, 
he lay within range of the Indian rifles and in sight of his 
agonized wife and anxious friends till Logan brought him in. 
This he did by covering himself with a snudl feather bed and 
going out as soon as darkness set in sufficiently to make a man 
on all fours appear to the Indians to be a big hog, moving around 
the Avails of the stockade in search of something to eat. He 
crept hither and thither to deepen the deception, but finally 
reached Harrison, apparently by accident, when he gathered 
him in his arms and sprang to his feet. Indian bullets at once 
showered around them, but he carried his comrade into the 
fort without further hurt, and himself was untouched. When 
ammunition was about to fail, he took upon himself the des- 
perate alternative of procuring a supply. Choosing two gal- 
lant comrades to accompany him, he made his way through 
the Indian lines, and in ten days performed the almost incredi- 
ble feat of going to the settlements on the Holston, procuring 
supplies, and returning — a chstance, back and forth, of more 
than three hundred miles, and for the most part by a rough and 
untravelled route. In 1777 he was a member of the Court of 
Quarter Sessions at Harrodstown ; when Kentucky was divided 
into three counties (November 1st, 1780), he was commis- 
sioned colonel, or county lieutenant for Lincohi ; was a mem- 
ber of the Virginia Legislature, 1781; was a member of the 
conventions which met in Danville in 1785, 1787, and 1788; a 
member of the convention of 1792 which formed the first 
state constitution, and w^as one of the electors of senate; 
and he several times represented his county in the legisla- 
ture. He lived to old age, beloved and honored by the 
people of the whole state. 

IV. Richard Henderson. — Some writers give this man a 
military title, speaking of him as Colonel Henderson. This is 
merely a courtesy, and seems trivial in itself; but it has a 
tendency to degrade the term as applied to several of our 



THE TRANSYLVANIA COMPANY. (U 

noble pioneers, who, whether commissioned or not, did bear 
arms, exercise command, incur danger, tiulit gallantly, and in 
some instances give up their lives in conflict or meet death hy 
torture at the hands of ca|)tors who took a demoniac tlelighl 
in the torments of helj)less ])risoners. The only semblance of 
warlike service rendered by Henderson was the bringing of 
about thirty men, April, 177"), to n^-enforce Boonesborough. 
He had little part in the hardships incident to })ioneer life, and 
was at no time exposed to any grave danger. His connection 
with the settlers, however, as the leading spirit of the Tran- 
sylvania Company, nvide him for u short time prominent in 
their affairs and left its influence n]H>n the state ; and while 
he was never really a citizen or a useful factor in the upbuild- 
ing of the commonwealth, his name is indissolubly associated 
with it, and deserves a brief notice. He was l)orn in Hanover 
county, Virginia, April 20th, 1735, but his parents afterward 
removed to(iranvillecounty,NorthCarolina. He had nooppor- 
lunities for edu<'ation, and when he reached manhood he was 
unable to read and write. His natural abilities, though, were 
very great; he was ambitious of distinction, and by diligent 
application he (jualitied himself for business; was appointed a 
constable, then an under sheriff; studied law (for a time 
under the direction of an able counsellor); became a success- 
ful practitioner in both the inferior and superior courts of the 
Province of North Carolina; was noted for his solid ])rofes- 
sional attainments, and was a])pointed an associate judge, which 
place he tilled with distinction until the courts were abolished 
by the British crown. By the time he was forty years old, 
however, he had indulged in wild speculations, which, with 
ostentatious and extravagant living, had deeply involved him 
in del)t ; and he now conceived and proceeded to carry out a 
most tremendous scheme, api)arently with a view to both 
enriching himself and attaining to a i)ower similar to that of 
a feudal lord of the olden time. The formation of the Tran- 
sylvania Company and the first steps to colonize the com- 
pany's purihase have been noticed in the preceding chapter. 
It is not to l)c inf(>rrcd that the coinpany's great design con- 
templatetl a wanton and vicious disregard of either the rights 
of the j)ioneers or of Virginia's claim under previous treaty. 
Its services were recognized and amj)ly remunerated by both 
\'irginia and North Carolina, though its pretensions were set 



62 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

aside ; and with Henderson were associated Virginia and Noith 
Carolina gentlemen, several of whom took an active part in 
the settlement and defense of the state, whose names are 
familiar in its stirring annals, and whose descendants are 
among the most honorable of Kentucky families. Of Hen- 
derson himself it has been recorded that he died at his home 
in Granville, North Carolina, ' ' universally loved and respected. ' ' 




i 



KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 6?) 



CHAPTER V. 

KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR: FIRST FOUR 

YEARS. 

1775-1778. 

1. You come now to a time which you should keep in mind 
as a distinct period in the history of your state. It is remark- 
able not only because the events that followed each other in 
rai)id succession were important in themselves but because of 
their far-reaching consequences. During the eight years in 
which the thirteen colonies were engaged in war with a mighty 
power to free themselves from tyrannical rule and establish a 
government of their own, the pioneers of Kentucky were fix- 
ing themselves firmly in their new home, and at the same time 
conquering for the struggling government beyond the Allegha- 
nies a vast region north and northeast, considerably greater in 
area than all the thirteen states together, and now the home 
of more than fifteen millions of free people. But for the 
heroic deeds of the pioneers, and their perseverance under 
many forms of trial and suffering, "the magnificent country," 
says an able jurist, "which now extends as one with us to the 
north Pacific might have been broken from us at the summit 
of the eastern mountains." 

2. Many of the first settlers of Kentucky had been soldiers 
in the French and Indian war, 1754 to 1763. The effect of 
this experience, as well as their unconquerable spirit, Avas 
shown in a striking way in the campaign of 1774 against the 
Shawnees and their fierce allies from the northeast. While 
Dunmore was getting ready, in his lordly British way (or perfidi- 
ously delaying, as is understood), to move down the Ohio from 
Pittsburgh, with the strong right wing of his army. General 
Lewis, an old border fighter and leader, had pushed across 
with the weaker left wing to Point Pleasant, where he met a 



64 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

well-armed savuire force, one-third greater than his own, and 
so utterly routed them that they fled to their villages in Ohio, 
and their war of destruction was over. With Lewis that day 
were the Boones, Floyd, Harrod, Shelby, McDowell, and other 
master spirits in the setthng of Kentucky. 

3. After the attacks on Boone's party previously men- 
tioned, the Indians were not constantly menacing and trouble- 
some during the remainder of 1775, and immigration notably 
increased. Before the close of the year, the Wells brothers 
and seven other men encamped on Limestone creek and made 
surveys embracing 15, ()()() acres; in Bourbon county, on a 
creek which afterward took his name, John Hinkston built, in 
April, a cabin on the spot afterward occupied by Ruddle's 
Station; some improvements were nuide at Drennon Springs, 
Henry county; Haggins, Williams and others located Martin's 
Station, near what is now Lair's depot, in Scott county; the 
Royal Spring, now in the limits of Georgetown, was visited 
early in the year, and in November, John McClelland settled 
there with his family ; in May Joseph Lindsey built a cabin 
on Elkhorn, a short distance from Lexington; Elias Tobin 
built a cabin and nuide a small clearing on Slate creek in 
Bath county ; Calk built one about a mile from Mount Ster- 
ling; William Whitley and wife, with a brother-in-law of his 
and se\en other persons, located near Crab Orchard in Lin- 
coln county ; Colonel Calamore raised a crop of corn on Lulbe- 
grud creek in Clark county; and John Floyd made surveys in 
Bourbon county and elsewhere. Altogether, it was a time of 
much activity in exploring and locating homes. 

4. Shortly after completing the Boonesborough stockade, 
Boone went back to North Carolina for his family. In about 
three months he returned to Boonesborough, bringing them 
with him. Richard Calloway, William Poague, and John 
Stager, with their familes, accompanied the Boones. They 
arrived Se})tember 26th, 1775, and this was the beginning 
of domestic life in Kentucky. 



kp:ntucky durinc! the revolutionary war. (>') 

6. Soon aftrrwaid, a ]):irty from North Carolina, led by 
Tluirh Mi'(iarv, reached Ilarrodstown. McGary, Richard 
Iloiran, and Thomas Denton brought their families, so there 
were now two important stations made home-like by women 
and children. During the winter following, the fort of Ilar- 
rodstown was begun, on what is now Seminary Hill. 

<>. Early in the s})ring of this year George Rogers Clark 
came to Ilarrodstown. He was then less than twenty-three 
years old, but had held a connnission as captain in Governor 
Dunmore's army the year before. During his stay of a few 
months he visited the settlements, and made himself familiar 
with cxistins: conditions and the needs of the scattered colon- 
ists. Ilis agreeable manner, as well as his evident ability and 
the lively interest he manifested, soon won him the esteem 
and confidence of the })eople, and he was placed in command 
of their militia. 

7. In the spring of next year, Clark came again to Ken- 
tucky to make it his home. At his suggestion a general 
meeting Avas held at Ilarrodstown, June Gth, 1776, to take 
steps to ascertain Avhether the territory south and west of the 
Kentuckv river beloni^-ed to Viro-inia. Noting the confusion 
and uncertainty arising from conflicting claims and the grow- 
ing dissatisfaction with the Henderson Company, Avhose title 
he did not admit, he had conceived the plan of using the lands 
as an inducement to immigrants and thus establishing an 
independent state, provided Virginia would not assert her 
claims and aid in protecting the settlements. The meeting 
chose him and Gabriel John Jones as agents of the peoi)le of 
Kentucky to the Virginia Legislature. 

8. Accepting the trust they set out on horse-back, but they 
soon lost or abandoned their horses ; the season was so rainy 
as to make travelling on foot unusually laborious and slow, and 
at last to afflict them with scald feet ; they suffered for food ; 
and were compelled to rest some days in an abandoned fort 



66 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

near Ciiniborlaiul Gap; l>nt at Icnsrlh they reached Williams- 
burgh to tind the legislature adjourned. 

». Jones went to his old home on the llolston, but Clark 
sta^^ed to follow up his purpose. Gov. Patrick Henry was 
at home sick; but when Clark got audience with him he 
promptly approved of his plan, and gave him a letter to the 
Executive Council. To the council he ap})lied for 500 })()unds 
of i)owder — an article for which the Kentucky colonists were 
now dependent upon the Henderson Company. 

10. Though disposed to help their countrymen the council 
replied that as the Kentuckians had not been recognized as 
citizens and under Virginia's protection they could do nothing 
more than lend the poAvder, and Clark must be responsible for 
it and bear expense of moving it. They gave him an order 
on the keeper of the pul)lic magazine, Avith these express pro- 
visions. After reflection, he resolved to go back to Harrods- 
town and move for the erection of Kentucky into an inde- 
pendent state, and returned the order, with a letter shoAving 
AA'hy he could not accept the loan. He said that a country 
AA'hich Avas not Avorth defending' Avas not Avorth clainuno;, and 
that his people must look elsewhere for help. 

11. This brought a rec(msideration, Avith the result that the 
order Avas made to furnish the powder and have it conveyed 
to Pittsburgh or Fort Pitt and delivered to Clark for Ken- 
tucky. He endeavored to notify the settlers at HarrodstoAvn 
to have it carried thither, and remained in Virginia to attend 
the autumn session of the legislature. Jones haA'ing rejoined 
him, they moved that body to assert their claim to all the ter- 
ritory noAv constituting this state and organize it as Kentuck}' 
county. In spite of the efforts of Henderson and his associ- 
ates, they Avere successful. The title of the Transylvania 
Company Avas thus declared null and void ; but as compensa- 
tion for expenses incurred, and for services rendered to the 
settlers, the Virginia Legislature granted the company 200,000 
acres of landhino; along Ohio river on both sides of the Green. 



KENTUCKY DURING THK RKV OLUTIONARY WAR. 07 

112. L:it(' in S('])l('inl)('r of this year ( 177(5), Clark learned 
that the powder still lay at Fort l*itt, his niessauc havinir 
failed lo reach JIarrodstuwn, and he hastened to take char";c 
of it. Enij)k)yinii- seven ))oatnien, he succeeded in carrying 
it safe to the mouth of Limestone creek, thouirh harassed all 
the Avay by Indians. Going up that stream, he hid it along 
the l)ank, and set off on foot, Avith Jones and probably others, 
to Ilarrodstown for an escort. At Ilinkston Station he 
learned that John Todd, with a l)arty of surveyors, was in 
the neighborhood, aiul waited some days, intending to ask 
their assistance; but as they did not come, he left Jones, and 
resumed his journey, two men accompanying him. When 
Todd came in and learned w^hat Clark wanted he set out with 
ten men, Jones being guide, to find the powder and take it to 
Ilarrodstowu ; but near lilue Licks Indians attacked them; 
eJones and others were killed and the rest captured; but Clark 
sent a ])arty, who found the })owder a#d carried it to the' set- 
tlement. In October, 177(5, the Virginia Legislature estab- 
lished the county of Kentucky, as ;i part of that state, and the 
settlers were entitled to })rotection, and to be represented in 
that body. 

13. I have dwelt at some length on these transactions 
l)ecause the resiUt of Clark's mission was a turning point in 
the destiny of Kentucky. The authority of Virginia w^as 
established and acknowledged, and the pioneers had indis- 
l)ensable means of defense. Rival claims to the territory ahd 
conflicting pretensions to control were no longer to produce 
confusion and prevent concert of action in building up the 
new commonwealth. Soon after the Boonesborough conven- 
tion, and the establishment of a land office there by the 
Henderson Company, the more thoughtful settlers began to 
question the legality of that companv's claims, and dissatis- 
faction increased when the price of lands and fees of entry 
were raised. Eighty-four settlers, as previously stated (some 
of Avhom had been delegates to the Boonesborough con- 



KKXTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 69 

vcntioii), filed in the Virginiu Legisljiture a written pro- 
test against the pretensions of the company, and asked that 
body to decide whether Kentucky was a part of that state or 
whether it belonged to Great Britain, under which govern- 
ment the Transylvania Company chiimed to exercise control. 
The exertions of the far-seeing and determined Clark had 
brought the matter to a happy conclusion. 

14. Among the various small settlements made this year 
(1776), was one at Leestown, a mile below Frankfort; one 
on Stoner creek in Bourbon county ; and one, called Sandusky's 
Station, on Pleasant Run creek, in Washington county, by 
Jacob and James Sandusky. 

15. About the middle of July, it was learned that some 
time before a large body of Indians had invaded Kentucky 
and divided into small parties, to strike all the settlements at 
the same time and so prevent their assisting one another. On 
the 7th of this month, Elizabeth Calloway who was about 
grown, and her sister Frances and Jemima Boone, both 
thirteen or fourteen years old, were taken prisoners by 
Indians and hurried away. They had incautiously rowed a 
canoe too near the north shore of the river, opposite Boones- 
borough, suspecting no danger because for more than a year 
the whites had been free from molestation. It was late in 
the afternoon ; the only canoe was on the other side of the 
river; and it was not until next morning that the fathers of 
the girls, Daniel Boone and Richard Calloway, with John 
Floyd and five others could cross over. After travelling 
altogether about forty miles, delayed by the difficulty of keep- 
ing track of the savages, which they had been careful to con- 
ceal, the jHirsuers ca'iie upon them next day as they were 
kindling a fire to cook. Four men fired upon the Indians and 
all rushed forward. They fled, though two of them were 
wounded, and left everything but one shotgun. The girls 
were recovered unharmed. 



70 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

10. About niid-suininer the ludians attacked Ilinkston and 
other settlers along the Licking. They killed several persons, 
and forced others to take refuge at Boonesborough, Harrods- 
town, and McClelland' s Station at the Ro3'al Spring. Robert 
Pallerson, who had been one of the first to visit the last-named 
place the year before and assist in building the fort, started in 
October with six others to Pitts])urgh to get ammunition and 
other supplies. They went by canoe up the Ohio, and on the 
12th landed on the north side of the river, where they built 
a fire. Sleeping on their arms that night they were fired upon 
by Indians and then attacked Avith tomahawks. All but one 
or two were killed or wounded. Patterson was so badly hurt 
that he was for a year under a surgeon's care. 

17. On the 29th of December, forty or fifty Mingo Indians 
attacked iNIcClelland's Station, which was defended by twenty 
men. Their chief, Pluggy, was killed, and after several hours 
fighting thev w^ere driven off; but John McClelland, the 
founder of the station, was mortally wa)unded, as was one 
other man, wdiile two others were badly wounded. The fort 
was abandoned for a time, the survivors taking refuge at 
Ilarrodstown. 

18. March Gth, 1777, James and William Ray, with two 
other men, were clearing land near Shaw^nee Spring, four 
miles from Ilarrodstown, when a party of forty-seven Indians 
under the chief Blackfish attacked them, killing AVilliam Ray 
and capturing one man. Ja.mes Ray, a rapid runner, escaped 
to the fort, and the other man saved himself by hiding. The 
occupants of the fort strengthened the Avorks and otherwise 
prepared for an attack. Next morning, the Intlians fired a 
cabin east of the town ; and a number of the whites in the fort, 
having seen nobody, were deceived and rushed out to save the 
house. The Indians tried to prevent their return ; l)ut they 
retreated to a wooded knoll, where the Ilarrodsburgh court- 
house now stands, and took shelter. A fight ensued, in which 
one Indian Avas killed and four white men woundtul— one of 



KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 71 

tluMii inorliilly. They .succeeded in reucliiiig the fort, and the 
Iiidijiiis soon withdrew. 

v.). On the loth of Ajiril, about one hundred Indians 
attacked Boonesborouah, kiUini; one man and wounding four 
others. They Avere quickly driven off, with what loss was 
not ascertained. 

20. On the 2()th of May, a band estimated also at one hun- 
dred, concealed themselves near Logan's Fort and fired upon 
men who were standing guard outside, where women were 
milking. One man was killed and two wounded — one mor- 
tally. There were now but twelve fighting men left, but they 
succeeded in maintaining themselves until some time in Sep- 
tember, when Colonel Bowman, cominaj from Viririnia with a 
hundred men, reached the place. His advance was fired upon 
from ambush and several killed. When the main body came 
up the Indians fled. During this siege the ammunition of the 
whites grew so scarce that Logan, with two men, left the fort 
bv night and went to the Holston, beyond Cumberland Gap 
for a supply. The food supply so failed that men had to take 
the risk of going out beyond hearing of gunshot at such times 
of night as would be most likely to escape observation, to 
kill and bring in wild game. Their neighbors at Boones- 
borough and Harrodstown could not help them, being com- 
pelled to guard themselves. Threatened with starvation; 
a{)prehensive that their supply of powder and ball would 
iitterlv fail ; girt about by merciless foes nearl}^ ten times out- 
numbering their own riflemen; knowing that to be captured 
was to meet horrible death or horrors worse than death; 
two-thirds of the little connnunity shut in there being women 
and children — how sorely were they all tried! 

21. On an other occasion during this year Indians were 
gathered at Big Flat Lick, two miles from Logan's Station, 
when they were discovered by Logan, who raised a party of 
nu'u and attacked them, driving them off Avitli much loss and 
without any on his i>art. Later, when he was on horse-back. 



72 YouxG people's history of kextucky. 

huiitiiiii' near the same place, they fired in)on him from am- 
bush. His rioht arm was broken and he was sliijhtlv wounded 
in the brea-t. The savages rushed u{)()n him but he escaped, 
thouirh narrowly. 

22. In June a party of Indians discovered in the vicinity 
of Boonesborougli were driven l)v Major Saiith, with seven- 
teen men, across the Ohio, and one of them was Ivilled. 
Returning, they found on the way about tliirty more con- 
cealed. One of these, separated at the time from the rest, 
was killed, and part of Smith's force tired upon and charged 
the main body, dispersing them. On the -ith of July, how- 
evei', two hundred Indians appeared before Boonesborough 
and began a close and ti.'rce attack. This lasted but two days, 
as they found themselves suffering severely in proportion to 
the eifect produced uj^on the garrison. The whites lost one 
man killed and two wounded, while the Indian loss was known 
to be seven killed, and the wounded were i)robably many 
more. On the 25th of this month the force at Boonesborough 
was greatly strengthened by the arrival of forty-tive men 
from North Carolina. 

23. After the attack on Harrodstown, of which I have 
told you, the Indians hung about the settlement to prevent 
the raising of corn and to kill or drive off stock at })asture on 
the range. Of forty horses, all but one disappeared, and 
most of the cattle, and little corn had been raised. While 
some of the men were clearing a spot for turnips two hundred 
yards from the fort, one of them standing guard discovered 
and fired at an Indian. Other indications showed that a band 
of them was near. By a stnitagem, })lanned and executed 
by Clark, they were discovered in concealment and four of 
them killed before they could make resistance, and the rest 
fled. While pursuing them, the whites found within fom* 
hundred yards of the fort a deserted camp which seemed to 
have been occupied by five or six hundred warriors. 



KENTUCKY DURING THK REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 73 

24. Tiirninir to transactions of an earlier date, let us note 
that ill the midst of dangers and far removed from the parent 
state, the settlers were not unmindful of their rights as citi- 
zens of the new county of Kentucky. On the l!>th of April, 
1777, the first general election was held, and John Todd and 
Kichard Calloway were chosen members of the Virginia Legis- 
lature. On the 23rd of May they set out to take their places 
in that ])ody. 

25. Early in the spring a party was sent by Clark (who 
seems to have acted by connnon consent as a leader in matters 
other than those strictly pertaining to his station as com- 
mander of the militia) to break some hemp and flax left at 
lliiikston's place when the whites were forced to abandon it. 
They found Indians encamped there and were driven back, 
but without loss. 

20. In July, Clark ordered a force of spies and scouts to 
])e organized, to patrol the Ohio river and some interior 
places weekly, by twos, and give notice of Indian movements. 
Boonesborough, Harrodstown and Logan's Station appointed 
two each, and the plan proved beneficial, though the number 
was too small to keep close watch in all quarters and detect 
the coming of every small body of savages. 

27. Suspecting that the great activity of the Indians this 
year was due to British influence, he had sent two spies to the 
British posts at Detroit, Vincennes and Kaskaskia, who dis- 
covered that his surmises were correct, and further that they 
were endeavoring to influence against Virginians and Kentuck- 
ians the well affected French residents of these outposts. 
This information had a most important bearing, as it con- 
firmed his impression that a movement against them ought to 
be nuide. October 1st he set out for Virginia, without hav- 
ing disclosed his plans, to submit them to the Executive 
Council of Virginia; and after settling the accounts of the 
Kentucky militia, and studying the disposition of those in 
power he laid his scheme (December 10th) before Governor 



74 YOUNG people's HISTOUY of KENTUCKY. 

Henry. The result was that, after due deliberation on the 
j)art of the governor and the able and patriotic gentlemen 
whom he took into his confidence, Clark received, January 
2nd, 1778, secret instructions to take the British post at Kas- 
kaskia, in Illinois, on the Kaskaskia river, seven or eight miles 
above its mouth. 

28. At Harrodstown, September 2nd, 1777, was held the 
first court in the new county. The act establishing it was 
passed on the 6th of December preceding. This court was 
composed of eight magistrates, who were to meet monthly 
for the transaction of business. Levi Todd was chosen clerk 
of the court, and besides other matters then attended to, 
officers for a regiment of militia were commissioned, John 
Bowman being made colonel. 

29. This year had proved unfavorable to the pioneers. 
Indian hostilities had reduced the settlements to the three 
principal ones, Boonesborough, Harrodstown, and Logan's; 
but these had so successfully defended themselves that their 
permanency was assured. 

30. On the 1st of January, 1778, Boone with thirty men 
went to the Blue Licks to make salt for the settlements, of 
which they were in great want. February 7th, while he was 
out hunting game for the salt-makers, he was captured by a 
large Indian force (with which were two Frenchmen), as they 
were on their way to attack Boonesborough. On the 15th they 
brought him to the Blue Licks, where, upon his advice, twenty- 
seven of the men surrendered, having been promised good 
treatment, and for once the savages kept faith. Three of the 
men had been sent home with salt, and so escaped capture. 
The Indians returned to Chillicothe with their prisoners, and 
in March took Boone and ten others to Detroit, where the}^ 
delivered the ten to the British, but brought Boone back with 
them. Here he Avas adopted into the tribe, ami renuiined 
among them, feignina^ to be contented till he found that four 
hundred and fifty of their warriors were preparing to march 



KKNTUCKY DURING THE RK\'()LUTIONARY WAR. t i) 

auaiiist Boonesborouffh. lie contrived to escape (June lOth), 
and made the journey to the stockade (one hundred and sixty 
miles) in live days, M'ith but one substantial meal, which he 
had hidden in his blanket before starting. Preparation was 
made to receive the attack but the Indians did not appear. 

31. Some time in August he led a party to attack their 
to^vn at Paint creek on the Scioto river, but met thirty of 
them on their way to join the large force from Chillicothe, 
which was then on the march for Boonesborough. A fight 
ensued, with a loss to the Indians of one killed and one or two 
wounded. Boone's party received no injur3^ They took 
from the Indians three horses and all their baggage. As- 
certaining b}' spies that their town had been deserted, the 
comi)any hastily returned to Boonesborough, where they 
arrived before the enemy. Next day they marched up, flying 
the British flag, and demanded a surrender. The force, more 
than four hundred in num))er, was commanded by Captain 
Duqucsne, a Canadian Frenchman, and with him were eleven 
of his countrymen. Though Boonesborough had but fifty 
fighting men, they refused to surrender. Duquesne proposed 
other terms, and Boone with eight men went out to treat with 
him, but (juickly discovered that they meant treacherously to 
violate the rules of warfare, as known and ol)served even in 
those days, whereupon they ran back into the fort. Firing 
immediately began, and that of the Kentuckians was so deadly 
that the Indians fell back and sought better shelter. Still 
suffering loss without l>eing able to inflict any, an attempt Avas 
made to reach the stockade by digging a mine from a con- 
cealed point on the river bank and blow it up; but it was soon 
found that the inmates had discovered the plan and were 
countermining. I)u(|uesne then abandoned the jn-oject and 
laid rciJ-ular sieu-e to the place, according to the Indian fashion. 
This proved no better, and after having spent nine days with 
a loss of thirty-seven killed and many wounded, the Indians 
abandoned the attempt, and Boonesborough was never again 
disturbed by so great a force. 



7() YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KEXTUCKY. 

32. Clark, who had been c'oiimiis.sioncd cokmel, having 
received iii.striu'tion.s as previou.sl}^ stated, proceeded at once 
to raise a sutiicient force to execute his orders. This was to 
be recruited west of the Alleghanies, and it was some months 
before ever^'thing was in readiness, but by the 27th of May, 
havinof embarked at Fort Pitt, he reached Corn Ishmd with 
three companies, and a considerable number of families. Here 
he built a fort and drilled his raw troops. He was joined 
meanwhile b}^ volunteers from among the Kentucky settlers 
under Capt. Joseph Bowman, and on the 27th of June he 
began his voyage down the Ohio with about one hundred and 
thirty-tive men. 

33. Landing on the Illinois side, a little above the mouth 
of the Tennessee, he proceeded across the country, northwest, 
having fallen in with a party of hunters (who consented to 
join them) and found a guide who knew the country. On the 
afternoon of July 4th they were Avithin a few miles of Kas- 
kaskia, held by a British garrison; and so skillfully did Clark 
conduct the affair that the fort was taken and the town in his 
possession that night, without bloodshed. The coming of the 
invader was unexpected and when his presence became known 
it was too late to resist. 

34. About sixty miles up the Mississippi was another post, 
Caholda, near which a considerable body of Indians was gath- 
ered. A detachment of mounted men under Bowman, which 
a number of French citizens of Kaskaskia volunteered to 
accompan}', set out for this place, and, on the Gth of July, 
took it also by surprise and without resistance. The Indians 
fled when they learned that the two places were in possession 
of Clark's men, and the inhabitants took the oath of allegiance 
to Virginia. 

35. Courts were established and a form of government 
provided for the towns, the people co-operating; and the civil 
control of Virginia was thus established over this far-outlying 
section. 



KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. < i 

36. Between Kaskaskia and the Falls of Ohio, two hun- 
dred and thirty miles across country, from the former, Avas 
another station, St. Vincent's on the Wabash river, where 
Vincennes, Indiana, now stands. Colonel Clark saw the 
importance of getting i)ossession of this, and applied to 
M. Gibault, priest of Kaskaskia and St. Vincent's, for informa- 
tion. This gentleman })roved to be a warm friend to Vir- 
ginia, and offered to induce the people of St. Vincent's to 
throw off British rule and ally themselves with the Americans. 
On the 14th of July he set out with one Dr. Laf ont and one 
of Clark's spies, and by the tirst of August his mission was 
accomplished. The inhabitants took the oath of allegiance to 
Virginia, elected a commandant of their own, and hoisted the 
American flag. The successful connnander now established 
garrisons under- trusty officers at Kaskaskia and Cahokia, and 
sent Capt. Leonard Helm to take command at St. Vincent's. 
William Linn, a volunteer from Kentucky, was sent back, with 
the men who wished to return, to establish a fort on the 
present site of Louisville. 

37. Upon the recommendation of Colonel Clark the Vir- 
ginia Legislature organized, in October 1778, the territory of 
which he now held possession, as Illinois county, and ap- 
pointed John Todd its governor. Clark neglected no o})por- 
tunity to treat with Indian tribes and to cultivate friendly 
relations with the French settlers in the territory, in order 
still further to weaken British influence and so protect Ken- 
tucky as well as otherwise to aid the patriot army bej^ond the 
Alleghanies in their struggle for liberty. 

38. In December, Hamilton, the British commandant at 
Detroit, came to St. Vincent's, with a force of four hundred 
men. Captain Helm had not been furnished troops to defend 
the place, nor ^vas there a local militia, and he with one other 
American was compelled to surrender the fort and town to 
Hamilton, though not until he had made terms, that he and his 
one private should have the honors of war. 



78 YOUNG TEOrLE's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

T. Gen. Jjimes Ray. — R:iy was evidently one of the most 
(larins:, vijj:ilunt, and efHcient among the remarkable men ' 
who made the first settlements, and his public services con- 
tinued for more than forty years; but historians have spoken 
of him in a kind of matter-of-courso way and have not 
recorded enough to enal)le us to give a connected and really 
satisfactory account of his life. It is nowhere stated how he 
ac(iuired the title of general. He came to Harrodstown with 
his step-father, iMcGary, in 1775, Avhen he was l)ut fifteen years 
oUl; was left near the mouth of Gilbert's creek, with two 
other boys, when the party became bewildered, in charge of 
the horses and cattle, and remained three weeks before the 
others found the station and relieved him of his danger and 
res))()nsibility ; and thereafter bore the part of a man in the 
work of the colony, in its defense, in scouting, and in expedi- 
tions against the savages. It is gathered here and there that 
he was of stalwart frame, erect, broad-shouldered, with keen 
black eyes, and active as a cat. In the attack on the little 
party (March, 1777), Avhen his brother was killed and Shores 
made prisoner he escaped to the fort, four miles off, by out- 
running the fleetest of Blacktish's warriors, so astonishing 
thein that long afterward the chief spoke of "the boy at 
llarrod.stown" who coidd outrun his men. When out one day 
about two hundred yards from the fort, with one McConnell, 
shooting at a mark, and McConnell was shot from ambush, Ray 
instantly detected where the shot came from and killed an 
Indian, then l)()unded off amid a shower of balls; but the sav- 
ages being close u])on him when he came near the gate it could 
not be o[)ened without incurring the risk of destruction to the 
garrison, and he threw himself on the ground behind a stump 
scarcely large enough to screen him from the balls Avhich 
struck around him for four hours. At length he was relieved 
by a suggestion of his own — a hole was dug under a calkin 
wall, and as he was but about twenty feet away he succeeded 
in reaching it and getting inside. In 1777, while the Indians 
hung continuously round the station to prevent the cultivation 
of the fields, and the inha])itants were so reduced to distress 
by scarcity of food, he proved to l)e the most successful of 
their hunters in evacUng the enemy and bringing in supplies 



KENTUCKV 1)1 IlIMi TIIIO UIOVOLUTIONAKV WAR. < 1 1 

of ijanio. He wa.s thou but sovcntoon years old. 8(e;jlii)<r out 
before day, he would mount an old lior.se — the only one of 
forty brouirht to Kentuoky by his step-father — and make his 
way out of heariuii: of tlu^ hesieirers, takini": care to 1)reak his 
trail by ridino- in the water of 8alt river or such other streams 
as he struck, and kill his load of jranie, which he brought back 
after niij^hlfall. He thus inspired confidence and rendered him- 
self also ;i great favorite. He was one of the volunteei'sfrom 
Harrodstown on the unfoi'tunate e\})edition to old (Miillicothe 
in 1771); and when Colonel liowman was afterward censured 
for not signaling Colonel l^ogan as agreed upon, he maintained 
that Bowman was not blameworthy because the vigorous 
attack of the Indians was made before he got near enough. 
Setting forth one morning on a hunt, ni'icv he had se(Mi an old 
Scotchman start out to plow a tiekl of corn in which the fami- 
lies in the fort had a eonnnon interest, he apprehended that 
the plowman might not be safe, as he had the evening before 
seen traces of Indians. Approaching the lield he saw a well- 
armed Indian about two hundred yards before him. k(H'j)ing a 
tree between him and the Scotchman, advancing on him as the 
latter moved toward the other end of the field, and hiding when 
he turned to come back. This he did three times, and was at 
last \\ ithin fifty yai'ds of his intended victim, M'hen he attempted 
to le\-el his riHc, but Kay shot him dead. The Indian tired as 
he fell, but without effect. The Scotchman set off on such a 
furious run that he broke through the brush fence by which 
the gi'ound was enclosed, and could not be stopj)ed by Ray's 
calling to him; and when he got home he maintained that he 
had been attacked by a whole band of Indians; but his deliverer 
explainetl and went back after the Indian's scalp, taking some 
men aK)ng that they might see for themselves. Between ISOO 
and 1<S2(), (ienera^ Jv.,y v,as ten or twelve times a representative 
of his county in the legislature. 

II. Sisnilicanec of Indian Trails, and How a Liost One 
Was Found. — The early ])ioneers soon learned to understand 
the tneaning of signs made by Indians during their incursions 
and in their attempts to escjipe after committing outrages. 
When they wished to be followed they made no effort to conceal 
their route; and the abundant signs showed the whites that 
they must be on guard against ambuscades. When they really 
sought to avoid })ursuit it re(iuired constant and keen observa- 



80 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

tion to detect any sign at all, and only a practiced eye would 
note accidental displacement of stones, a dim moccasin track, 
a broken twio-, a bruised i)lant, a hair or feather, and other 
little indications that the most circumspect savage band on a 
hasty march would leave in si)ite of their i)ainstaking. When 
it was necessary for white men to follow an uncertain trail in 
rapid ])ursuit, one m;in was ])ut on it at the outset and the 
otlicrs took their jdaces in line to his right and left, at inter- 
vals that kei)t each within easy speaking distance of one on 
each hand, and the march began at a quick step or a run, as 
agreed u})on. If the man who had the clue at the start lost it 
he spoke loud enough for those nearest him to hear, "trail 
lost!" and this was passed along the line. The march was 
kept up, every man watching eagerly for signs, and when 
these Avere found he called to his companions right and left, 
"trail found !" This was repeated till all were advised, and in 
this way loss of time was i)revented and rapid progress made. 
III. Betsy Calloway's Bravery and Thoughtfulness. — 
"While the Indians who captured the Misses Calloway and 
Boone were dragging them from the canoe, Betsy Calloway 
fought with her paddle and gashed the head of one of them ; 
and when the three were ordered to take off their shoes and 
put on moccasins she refused, though the younger ones com- 
plied, so that she could make the impress of her shoe-heels 
on the ground where it was not too hard, thus leaving a sign 
for pursuers. Occasionally she stealthily broke off twigs, 
but this was discovered and an Indian with uplifted tomahawk 
threatened her life. Then she tore off bits of her dress when 
she could do so without detection, and dropped them. Their 
captors adopted every precaution to throw the white men off 
the trail ; but the forethought and courage of Miss Calloway 
in providing these clues aided her friends materially in kee})- 
ing the course. Her black hair and black eyes, with a some- 
what dark complexion, rendered more so by exposure to the 
sun, caused one of the rescuers to mistake her in the excite- 
ment of attack for an Indian and raise his empty gun to kill 
her with the heavy breech. She was sitting by a tree, with a 
large bandana handkerchief around her neck, while the heads 
of the other two girls lay in her lap. One of the men recog- 
nized her in time to arrest the blow. The pursuing party 
consisted of Daniel Boone, Maj. AVm. B. Smith, Col. John 



KENTUCKY DURINC. TIIK REVOLUTIONARY WAR. .Si 

Floyd, Bartlctt Searcy, Catlett Jones, Samuel Henderson, 
Capt. John Holder, and Flanders Calloway. Henderson 
afterward married Betsy Calloway, Holder married Fannie, 
and Calloway married Jemima lioone. 

IV. The First Marriage in Keiitiioky. — This was that 
of Samuel Henderson (younger brother of Judge Richard 
Henderson) and Elizabeth (or Betsy) Calloway, the oldest 
daughter of Col. Richard Calloway. It occurred at Boones- 
borough, August 7th, 177(), less than a month after the 
young lady with her sister Fannie and Jeminui Boone, had 
been rescued from the Indians. The ceremony w^as per- 
formed by Squire Boone, who was a Baptist preacher. Fannie 
Henderson, their first child, born May 21)th, 1777, was the 
first white child born of parents who had been married in 
Kentucky, and the fifth one born in the state. 
6 




82 rouNG people's history of Kentucky. 



CHAPTER VI. 

KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR: LAST FOUR 

YEARS. 

1779-1782. 

1. About the last of .lanuary, 1771), Colonel Clark received 
notice of Hamilton's having occupied St. Vincent's, and he 
made immediate preparations to retake it. He began his 
march February 7th, with one hundred and seventy men. 
This expedition was one of the most remarkable on record, 
because of difficulties that the British now in possession of St. 
Vincent's did not believe it possible for Clark and his men to 
overcome. By the evening of February 23rd, the little force 
was before the town, and next day fire was opened on the 
fort. On the 25th Governor Hamilton surrendered; the 
American flag again floated over the strongest British post in 
the northeast; and a grand campaign, which Hamilton had 
planned, to destroy all the infant settlements in Kentucky and 
elsewhere west of the Alleghanies, was prevented. 

2. The year 1779 was remarkable for a great increase of 
settlements in Kentucky. On the 17th of April, Robert Pat- 
terson began building a block-house or fort on the present site 
of Lexington. He was joined by a number of others, among 
them Mrs. John Morrison, who was the first woman to settle 
here, and a town was laid off. During the year Bryan's Sta- 
tion, about five miles northeast of Lexington, was established 
by four brothers from North Carolina, of whom the leader 
was William Bryan, who had been a captain in the Continental 
army. For his services during the revolution he had a grant 
of land which he located in Kentucky. His wife was Mary, a 
sister of Daniel Boone's. He was killed by Indians, May 
21st, 17.S1, near the mouth of Cave Run, while hunting with a 
number of other men from the station, 



KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



no 



,3. Mart ill's Station, about three iiiile.s below Paris, on 
Stoner creek, heretofore notieecl as having been abandoned, 
was reoeeupied and strengthened; Isaac Ruddle re))uilt Ilink- 
ston's; Pitman's Station, aI)out five miles west of Grccns- 
burgh, near the mouth of Pitman's creek, was estabhshed. 
S({uire Boone and family, with a number of gentlemen, some 
of whom had families, settled at Painted Stone, on Clear 
creek, near where Shelbyville now stands; George Boone 




STOCKADE AT LEXINGTON. 



founded one about six miles from Richmond, on the present 
Lexington turn^jike; James Estill settled on Little Muddy 
creek, in Madison county, and his place soon became an 
important station ; 8tei)hen Hancock, David Crews, and John 
Tanner established stations in the same section of country ; 
and the McAfee brothers came back to their old survey on 
Salt river, bringing their families, and built cabins and a 
stockade. 



84 YOUNG TKOrLlfs HISTORY or KENTUCKY. 

4-. In AI:n', Colonel liownian, coinnuindcr of the militia, 
ordered the enlistment of a force to invade the Indian country 
and strike such a blow as would deter them from infesting 
the settlements in small bodies and killing and destroying 
wherever they found men off guard or })roperty exposed. 
Over two hundred men, imder experienced and al)le officers, 
uiet near the mouth of the Licking, and nuirched to Old C-hilli- 
cothe without giving the alarm. Dispositions were made to 
a])})roach the town in the night, in two divisions, one under 
Bowman, the other luuler Benjamin Logan, and begin a 
simultaneous attack at daylight; but from some cause, Logan 
did not receive a promised signal from Bowman before the 
presence of the Kentuekians Avas discovered. Logan with 
his detachment fought gallaiitly until he re(;eived an order from 
the commander to retreat. They were pursued hy the Indians, 
and confusion ensued: but Loo:an and his officers at leno;th 
succeeded in restoring order, and when matters seemed to be 
desperate they selected the boldest and best-mounted men 
and checked pursuit by charging upon the Indians and eut- 
tinof them down as thev drove them from cover. One chief, 
Blackfish, "was killed when the retreat began; their new chief 
who assumed command. Red Ilawk, Avas killed in the charge, 
and they fled. Part of Old Ohillicothe was burned, and the 
Kentuekians brought away about one hunderd and sixty 
horses and some other })roperty ; but they had lost nine men 
and several Avounded, and though the Indians lost heavily in 
com})arison the expedition failed of that great success which 
at one time seemed assured. 

5. In October of this year, David Rogers, who had been 
sent some months previously to New Orleans to })rocure mili- 
tary supplies for Fort Pitt, with Robert Benham, was ascend- 
ing the Ohio with two keel boats, manned by about one hun- 
dred men and loaded wMth the supj)lies. One of these boats 
w^as under his command, the other under Benham' s. "When 
opposite the mouth of the Licking, they discovered Indians 



KENTUCKY DURIX(} THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 8o 

who had come down the Miami river on boats and rafts, and 
were enterinij: the Lickino". Rotjers ordered the two crews to 
hind and attack, hopinir to take them at a disadvantage by 
marchino- through willows covering a sand-bar; but they soon 
found themselves surrounded by nearly five times their num- 
ber. Rogers and all the men except nine or ten were killed. 
One of the boats with two men escaped to the Falls, while the 
few other survivors reached their friends at different times. 
O. The winter of ITTD—SO was for three months, from the 
middle of Noveml)er, so intensely cold that the settlers seemed 
to be in the grasp of a more })itiless and terril^le enemy than 
the savage red man. Navigable rivers were so frozen over 
as to arrest the boats of immigrants and compel them to 
debark and await in camp the return of milder w^eather; 
whik' the smaller streams were frozen solid. The supply of 
food in the hands of those who had been here during the 
cropping and hunting seasons was not suiiicient to meet fully 
their own denumds, and sharing it with those but newh"^ come 
increased the ditficulty with the passing weeks. Game starved 
and froze in the forests and domestic animals around the 
camps and cabins. From fifty to one hundred and seventy- 
five dollars of the depreciated continental currency was the 
price of a l)ushel of corn. The extremity was dreadful and 
could not be wholly relieved until spring and summer and 
autumn came with their respective products of garden, field 
and forest. 

7. With the breaking of winter, however, the tide of 
immigration rose beyond precedent. By this time there were 
already six stations on Beargrass creek, with a population of 
six hundred, and early in the spring three hundred large 
family boats arrived at the Falls, bringing, as is estimated, 
three thousand })ersons. 

8. In June (1780) six hundred Canadians and Indians, 
under command of Colonel Byrd, an officer of the British 
arm\', with six ]tieces of artillery, came down the Miami and 



86 YOUNG rEOPLF/s HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

up the Lirkiiiii' to whore Falmouth now stands. He uuirched 
thence to Ruddle's Station, arriviui!; on the 22nd. The people 
were taken by surprise, and even if time had been given for 
preparation the stockade would not have been proof against 
artilU>rv. When an unconditional surrender was demanded, 
Euddle asked the one condition that the jn'isoners should not 
be delivered to the Indians but kept under the protection of 
the p]nglisli. This was promised; but when the gates were 
opened, the Indians rushed in and each claimed whatever 
prisoner he seized. They were subjected to shocking bar- 
barities, which Byrd claimed he was unable to prevent. They 
next went to Martin's Station, live miles farther, but not until 
Byrd had exacted from the chief a lU'omise that the Indians 
should have only the })roperty Avhile the prisoners should be 
under his control. The place surrendered and the agreement 
was carried out. The Indians urged the commander to press 
on to Bryan's Station and Lexington, but he refused to go 
further, alleging various reasons, and the invaders returned 
to the forks of the Licking. Re-embarking, they left the 
country. 

9. Colonel Clark, on hearing of these attacks, came promptly 
from St. Vincent's to Louisville, and soon had about a thou- 
sand men, ably officered, assembled at the mouth of the Lick- 
ing. Building a block-house, in which to leave stores, on the 
present site of Cincinnati, he proceeded to Old Chillicothe, 
surprised the Indians, who hastily fled, burned the town, and 
destroyed the crops. At Pickaway the Indians made a stand 
and Clark lost seventeen men killed and some wounded, but 
the place was taken and everything was destroyed or taken 
into possession, as at Chillicothe. Detachments were sent to 
other villages, and these also were laid waste. With such 
property as could be carried away, including horses and cattle, 
the victorious Kentuckians returned home, and the expedition 
had ])r()ved so disastrous to the Indians that for nearly two 
years no coiisidcr.-iljlc bixh' of thcni invaded the state. 



88 YOUNG .people's history of KENTUCKY. 

10. During this year ( 1780) the Virginiti Legislature passed 
an act to estabhsh Louisville. Trustees were appointed to lay 
off the town on a tract of one thousand acres, formerly the 
property of a British subject. 

11. Early in the summer, under orders from Thomas Jef- 
ferson, then governor of Virginia, Colonel Clark built a fort 
and some block-houses on the Mississippi, five miles below the 
mouth of the Ohio, and mounted cannon which had been 
sent him. He named the place Fort Jefferson. 

12. About the first of November the Virginia Legislature 
divided Kentucky into three counties of Jefferson, Fayette, 
and Lincoln. 

13. Fort Jefferson vras held by Captain George, with about 
thirty men, in the summer of 1781, when the Chickasaw and 
Choctaw Indians, on whose land it had been built without 
their consent, besieged it in great force. The garrison, not 
anticipating attack, was ill-provided with food, and two-thirds 
of the men were sick ; but Captain George held out for five 
days. On the sixth he met the leader of the savages, a white 
man named Colbert, under a flag of truce, to consider terms of 
capitulation; but they could not agree. As Col1)ert was 
retiring he received a wound from some Indians, friendly to 
the Kentuckians and then in one of the block-houses. This 
treacherous act, though not perpetrated by the whites, exas- 
perated the besiegers ; and at night they collected all their 
force to storm the works. Capt. George Owen, who was 
then commanding one of the block-houses, had loaded his 
SAvivels or small cannon with musket balls, and when the 
Indians, in crowded column, came near the walls, he dis- 
charged them with such dreadful effect that they were dis- 
persed with great slaughter. General Clark, then stationed 
at Kaskaskia, having been sent for, noAV arrived Avith supplies 
and reinforcements, and the enemy left the place. The 
fort was 80 remote from other Kentucky settlements, and 



KENTUCKY DURING THE HEVOLUTIONARV WAR. 81) 

therefore difficult to niiiintjiin, that it was soon permanently 
abandoned. 

14. During the year 17.S1 the Indians were exceedinirlv 
troublesome in Jefferson and Shelby counties. In March 
several parties of them came over into Jefferson and killed 
"William Linn and Captains Tipton and Chapman. Captain 
A(|uilla Whittaker, Avith fifteen men, traced them to the foot 
of the Falls and embarked in canoes to cross over and follow 
them ; but the}' were still on the Kentucky side and fired on 
the men in the canoes, killintr and wounding nine of them. 
Those who were unhurt, and the wounded who were still able 
to fight, rowed back and defeated the Indians, killing and 
wounding a number much in excess of their own. 

13. In September, 1781, Squire Boone set out Avith his and 
other families from his station at Painted Stone to find on 
the Beargrass a place of greater safety. The moving party 
was attacked near Long Run by a large body of Indians and 
suffered considerable loss, Boone himself being among the 
wounded. As soon as Col. John Floyd heard of the affair 
he set out from his station Avith thirty-seven men to folloAV 
the Indians. Though he divided his force, placing one 
detachment under Captain Holder, and all moved with much 
caution, they Avere ambushed by about tAvo hundred saA^ages, 
Avhose fire killed and Avounded sixteen. The Avhite men held 
their ground until the Indians, Avho had lost nine or ten men 
killed, rushed upon themAvith their tomahaAvks and compelled 
them to retreat. 

IG. The station at Painted Stone AA^as reoccupied al)out 
Christmas of that year ; but a year or two afterAvard Squire 
Boone transferred it to Colonel Lynch, and it Avas from that 
time knoAvn as Lynch 's Station. 

17. That Indians had been in the neig^hborhood of Estill's 
Station, about fifteen miles south of Boonesborough, was dis- 
covered March IDth, 1782; and Capt. James Estill, Avith 
tAvcntv-fivc men, set out to find them. About davliirht on 



90 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

the nu)rnin<)^ of the 20th, while the party was still absent, 
Indians killed and scalped Miss Jennie Gass who was outside 
but near the station, milking. Monk, a slave of Estill's, who 
had gone with her, was captured. When questioned as to the 
force inside the stockade he represented it as considerably 
greater than that of the Indians, and that they were preparing 
to defend themselves. Besides the women and children there 
w^ere only four men ; but the savages were deceived, and, after 
killing the cattle, retreated across the river. The intelligent 
and faithful slave had thus, probably, prevented a massacre. 

18. Two boys, Samuel South and Peter Hackett, were sent 
to notify Captain Estill. Finding the party below the mouth 
of Bed river, they told them what had occurred, and immedi- 
ate pursuit was begun. At Little Mountain, near what is 
now Mount Sterling, they discovered twenty-five Wyandottes, 
and Captain Estill promptly led his men to the attack. The 
forces were equal, and a fierce and bloody conflict began. 
The Indians were apparently taken by surprise, as at the first 
fire of the whites they began a retreat; but their chief, 
though mortally wounded, called to them to stand, and they 
rallied and took position with somewliat the advantage of 
ground. Captain Estill had halted and disposed his men in 
line, every one covering himself as well as possible, as the 
Indians did, by a tree. Hinkston creek, a branch of the 
Licking river, lay between them; and across this, about sixty 
yards apart, the two lines engaged in one of the most 
remarkable combats of pioneer times, 

19. For more than an hour the firing was kept up with 
such deliberation that it was deadly in spite of the shelter 
afforded by tree-trunks, and more than a fourth of the 
men on each side liad fallen. When it appeared to Captain 
Estill that to continue in this way would lead to the exter- 
mination of his little force, as quickly as to that of the enemy, 
and that the Indians were trying to extend their line with a 
view to turning his flank with part of their force, he ordered 



KENTUCKY DURINO TlIK REVOLUTIONARY WAR. HI 

six of lii.s nicii under coininaiul of a lieutenant to proceed by 
a route which he pointed out — a vallev running from the 
creek to the rear of the enemy — and come up on that flank or 
behind their line. The oflicer in charge did not execute the 
order, but ran away with his detachment. The Indians, dis- 
coycring how Estill had weakened his line, rushed across the 
shallow stream and a hand-to-hand fight followed. Estill, 
already wounded, grappled with a powerful savage, but in the 
struggle, his arm, which had been broken by a shot from an 
Indian three months before, gave way, and his enemy ])lunged 
a knife to his heart. Nine of the Avhites were left dead upon 
the field, and four of those who escaped were wounded. The 
Indian loss was never certainly known; but reports from their 
towns indicated that about half of them were killed and all 
the others except one were wounded. 

20. The affair, though generally referred to as "Estill's 
Defeat," was more deadly to the savages than to the whites, 
and droye the sury Ivors, and others who were elsewhere in 
that part of the country, back across the border. 

21. In August, 1782, a party of Indians captured two boys 
near Hoy's Station, fiye miles south of Richmond, and recrossed 
the Kentu(;ky river. They were pursued by Captain John 
Holder, with seventeen men, and overtaken, August 12th, at 
Upper Blue Licks. Holder attacked, but Avas defeated, with 
a loss of four men, and compelled to retreat; but the Indians 
did not follow. 

22. Bryan's Station contained at this time a force of fight- 
ing men which has been variously estimated at from forty to 
sixty. On the night of August 14th, the men were engaged 
in i)reparing for an expedition against the Indians who had 
rei)ulsed Holder at Blue Licks. When the gate was thrown 
open next morning and the men started out, they were driven 
back by a heavy fire from the woods in their front. A force 
of six hundred Indians, led by the infamous Simon Girty and 
a British oflicer, had reached the place during the night and 



92 YOrXG PKOPLf/s HTSTORY of KKXTrCKV. 

lakon position Avithin rillc-shot. Tlu> whites wcro taken hv 
surprise; aiul as no nttuek in foree luul becn'antieipated, they 
were ])oorlv })repared to defend themselves ai>ainst irreat odds. 
The })alisades were out of rei>air, and their only source of 
water supj)lv was a sprin*:' outside, about eighty yards from 
one of the liati's. 

2:J. Two nuuuited messenofcrs broke through the Indian 
lines to warn the neiuhboriuiji; stations and ask aid: and the 
walls were hastily repaired. To l)i> destitute of watei". how- 
ever, was to be subjected to other daiii2:ers than the shots and 
assults of the foe. It was imi>ossible to withstand without it 
a sieji'e of any eonsitlerable duration: and it was to be apjire- 
hended that the besieiiers would enileavor to tire the stoi-kades 
or the roofs of the cabins l)y burninu' arrows (which, indei'd 
was rept'atcHlIy done duiiuir the day), when water would be 
needed with which to quench incipient tiames. 

2-1:. In this emera-ency, Ca})t. Elijah Craio-, in command 
of the station, called the women too^ether and asked thcai to 
undertake to brin^• in a suj^ply. It was rig'htly conjci-tured 
that a strong body of the Indians lay concealed near the 
spring"; but he reasoned that as they knew it to be customary 
for the wonuai to go for water daily, and without a guard 
when no enemy was supposed to be near, they would consider 
their doing so now as evidence that their ambuscade had not 
been discovered, and that their plans of attack could be carried 
out. These wives and mothers and daughters realized the 
jieril in which all were }ilaced : they listened to the represen- 
tations and entreaties of the brave nu^n who wouUl gladly have 
shii'lcUnl them from every danger had it been in tlu'ir power: 
they took the fearful risk and brought in ihc needful sui)ply 
from under hundreds of guns in the hands of merciless foes 
— an ait of heroism which requires no high-sounding dcserip- 
tiou, no labored ])anegvric, to inq)rcss it ui)on a generous 
mind: it s})eaks for itself. 



KENTUCKY DIK1N<} THi: RKVOLUTIOXAKV WAK. Oo 

2."». Caj)taiii Craig next resorted to a stratagem which dvaw 
the Indians from ambush and exposed tlicm to effective lire. 
Tiiirtcen young men were sent out to attack some Indians who 
had ai)i)('arcd on the o|)|)()site side of the fort, with orders to 
tire rMj)idly and keep up so nnich noise as to lead the con- 
cealed enemy to suppose that the whole garrison had gone 
against the few Indians sent there to draw them out. They 
were to fall back through the gate as soon as firing began in 
the fort. The enemy's object was to arouse the whole force 
in the stockade to rush out after those who appeared on the 
farther side, so that the main body in ambush could assault 
on the side adjacent to the spring and carry the place before 
the defenders could return. When the firing showed that the 
detachment had gone some distance, several hundred Indians 
sprang from cover and rushed upon the wall which they 
believed to be undefended. About forty rifles poured a vol- 
ley into them and beat them back with great loss. The 
l)arty that had been sent out returned promptly on hearing 
the fusillade and were admitted through the opposite gate. 

26. The messengers who had been sent for re-enforce- 
ments met the men of the Lexington garrison on their way to 
Blue Licks, expecting to join those of Bryan's Station in the 
proposed expedition. As the^'^ hurried now to the latter, in 
response to the summons, part mounted and part on foot, they 
fell into an ambuscade which Girty had jjrepared for them 
near Bryan's, on a narrow road bordered on one side by a field 
of high corn, on the other by a dense Avood. The horsemen 
fell into the trap, but dashed through the storm of bullets 
and gained the fort without loss. The men on foot, who 
were trying to reach the station by creeping through the corn, 
ran to the rescue of the horsemen, but were met by the over- 
whelming odds and forced to retreat, with a loss of six killed. 

27. At night, Girty, concealed behind a stump within 
speaking distance of the garrison, demanded a surrender, with 
lies about expected re-enforcements and artillery, and with 



94 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

threats of massacre in case of refusal ; ))ut he was defied; and 
next morning the Indian camps were found deserted. The 
boastful and confident besiegers had retreated apparently a 
short time before daylight. 

28. Neighboring stations had been preparing to join in the 
expedition to the Blue Licks which was interrupted by the 
movement against Brj^an's; and within a few hours after 
the Indians had disappeared a sufficient number of men had 
arrived to increase the force to one hundred and sixty (some 
accounts say one hundred and eighty-two). It was known 
that Col. Ben Logan was marching with three hundred 
others to join them; but, fearing that the savages would 
escape across the river, and notwithstanding some of the 
more prudent advised delay, that Logan might come up, they 
set off in pursuit. 

29. Col. John Todd, at that time commandant of Illi- 
nois county, was at Bryan's Station on a visit to his wife, and 
was placed in command. Late in the morning of August 
19th, they came in sight of the Indians, who were on the 
opposite side of the Licking, near the Lower Blue Licks, and 
halted for council. Boone, Tcxld and others insisted that the 
attack should not be made till Logan had arrived. The odds 
against the pioneers was believed to be more than three to 
one, and the savages had the protection of timber, while an 
assault in front would ])robably be met while they were cross- 
ing the river and moving u}) a naked slope beyond. Major 
Hugh McGary, however, precipitated the fight by crying out, 
"Let all who are not cowards follow me! " and si)urring his 
horse into the stream. The whole party, horse and foot, 
dashed into the river, and reached the opposite shore in such 
confusion that it was with diiiiculty that Todd, Boone and 
otlier experienced men, could restore any degree of order. 
As it proved, the Indians had fallen back about a mile. 

30. Pushing on up the rising ground, without regular for- 
mation and without ordinary caution they came to brushy 



KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 95 

ravines on each hand and were met by a destructive fire, which 
brouirht thcni to a stand. Then for some time they fought 
the heavy odds heroically, and with such effect, notwithstand- 
ing some advantage of shelter which the Indians had, that the 
Indian loss was believed to be about as great in number as 
that of the whites. 

31. When it became evident that the Indians were making 
a movement to surround them, they retreated in confusion, 
and were fiercely pursued. Most of the mounted men suc- 
ceeded in re-cr(jssing the river; but those on foot, pressing 
together towards the shallow ford, were overtaken and many 
were tomahawked. 

32. The Indian flankers crossed above and below the ford 
and sought to surround them, so that it was with difficulty 
that the survivors escaped. They were pursued for several 
miles, but without further loss. 

33. Between sixty and seventy of the whites were killed, 
twelve w^ere wounded, and seven captured — a loss of nearly 
half of all engaged. Among them were several leading men. 
Colonels Todd and Trigg, Majors Harlan and Bulger, Capttuns 
McBride, Gordon, Kincaid and Overton, and Lieutenants 
Givens, Kennedy, Lindsey, and Rogers, were killed. About 
one-tenth of the fighting men in central Kentucky had lost 
their lives through the unpardonable rashness of McGary . The 
unhappy affair not only brought grief to many a pioneer 
home, but was depressing and discouraging to the settlements 
in general. 

3-4. Colonel Logan reached the field with three hundred 
men on the 2()th or 21st and buried the dead and mangled 
remains of his countrymen ; but the Indian force had returned 
to their homes across the Ohio and were beyond the reach of 
present punishment. 

35. Samuel Daveiss, who had located at Gilmer's Lick, six 
or seven miles from Whitley's Station in Lincoln county, was 
surprised early one morning in August, 1782, by Indians, one 



9(> YOUNG PEOPLE >S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

of whom si)raiio:, with uplifted tomahawk, between him and 
his cabin door as he walked out unarmed. When he ran round 
the h(»usc Avith a view to leading the Indian in pursuit and 
oettino- ])ack tirst to the door, he found the room already 
occupied by sava;0;es. He then ran live miles to the station of 
his brother flames, where there were five men. They gave 
him a spare riile, and all, well armed, went at once to his 
house. The Indians had carried away his Avife and children, 
and so concealed their trail that the pursuers Avere compelled 
to go for aAvhile at haphazard; but it Avas soon discovered. 
Shortly afterward they came upon the Indians, and rescued 
the family with no loss of life. The oldest boy Avas knocked 
down and scalped Avhen the firing began, but he Avas not 
seriously injured. 

36. About the 1st of September, 17(S2, a band of Indians, 
coming up from the Avest, surprised Kincheloe's Station, on 
Simpson creek, in Spencer county, and killed and captured 
nearly all the men, Avonien, and children of the six or seven 
families there, though the men fought desperately and killed a 
number of the savages. Some of the Avomen and children Avho 
Avere carried off returned home the next year, having been 
liberated after the treaty of peace Avhich terminated the 
revolutionary Avar. 

37. These Indian raids and outrages determined Col. George 
Rogers Clark to avenge them by invading the Indian countr}'. 
His call for volunteers met Avith a prompt response; and in 
Noveml)er more than a thousand men in two divisions, led 
respectively by Col. John Floj'd and C'ol. Ben Logan, united 
at the mouth of the Licking river. Crossing into the Ohio, 
Clark marched rapidly Avith this force about one hundred 
and thirty miles up the Miami, and on the 10th of November 
destroyed the principal Shawnee towns, Chillicothe, Pickaway, 
WillstoAvn, and others, and sent out detachments to continue 
the devastation by burning villages and destroying fields of 
corn, Comparatively fcAv Indians Avcre killed, as they fled ou 



KENTUCKY DURING THE KEVOLUTIONAKY WAR. 97 

the approach of the whites; hut the bh>w was a dreadful one, 
as the destruction of their property and provisions left them 
destitute for a year, and the Shawnee and allied tribes never 
afterward invaded Kentucky in force. Clark's loss during 
this desolating foray was but four or five men. 

38. During this year (1782) depredations and murders 
were committed elsewhere than those already noticed. Among 
others, about the time the battle of Little Mountain occurred 
several persons were killed by Indians at the Duree settlement 
above Boonesborough ; and during the same month in which 
Bryan's Station was besieged, Capt. Nathaniel Hart, who had 
been an associate of Henderson's in the Transylvania Com- 
pany, was killed near Boonesborough by a small party of 
Indians. About the middle of September, Silas Hart, a 
noted Indian fitfhter and the leadino; man in a settlement 
near Elizabethtown, was killed, and his wife, son, and 
daughter captured. The latter, being unable to march rap- 
idly, was tomahawked after having proceeded a few miles. 

39. This last year of the war of independence had proved 
to be one of peculiar trial to Kentucky settlers, and full of 
tragic incidents. 

PERSONAL SKETCHES AND INCIDENTS. 

I. The Todd Brothers. — The name Todd occurs so often 
in Kentucky history, and so frequently without any indication 
of which one is meant, that it is sometimes difficult to 
determmc without studj^ng the context. There were three 
brothers, John, Levi, and Robert, who figured conspicuously 
in both the military and civil affairs of the new state, and sev- 
eral of the name who afterward became prominent, though 
their relationship (if they were related) is not clearly estajj- 
lished. The three brothers referred to were natives of Mont- 
gomery county, Pennsylvania. They seem to have been more 
liberally educated than any of their famous fellow-pioneers. 



98 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

Col. John Todd, the oldest, in honor of whom Todd county 
was named, was educated in Virginia and practiced law in that 
state several years before settling in Kentuck3\ He came 
first to Boonesborough (1775), and purchased lands from the 
Transylvania Company. Subsequently he located wnthin two 
miles of Lexington. He was a member of the Boonesborough 
convention (May, 1775); was one of the party that set out 
from Hinton's Station Decemljer 25th, 177(5, to find and con- 
vey to Harrodstown the powder secreted near Limestone by 
George Rogers Clark, but was defeated with loss at the Blue 
Licks ; was a member of the first Court of Quarter Sessions held 
at Danville (spring of 1777) ; accompanied Clark on the expedi- 
tion for the reduction of Kaskaskia, and was left in connnand 
there; when the conciuered territory was erected into the 
county of Illinois (October, 1778), he was appointed com- 
mandant and county lieutenant, with authority to raise a regi- 
ment for the defense of his territory ; was a member of the 
Virginia Assembly in 1780, and while so engaged was married 
to a Miss Hawkins. When Kentucky was divided into three 
counties (November Ist, 1780), he was appointed colonel of 
militia for Fayette, though it appears that he still retained 
command of Illinois county, as when he returned from Vir- 
ginia he settled Mrs. Todd in Lexington, after which he was 
much absent, engaged in the administration of affairs in 
Illinois. In the summer of 1782, he was on a visit to his 
home when Bryan's Station was attacked; he assisted in the 
defense, after which he joined in the pursuit which terminated 
in the battle of Blue Licks (August 19th), where he was 
killed, fighting to the last. He left one daughter w^ho became 
the wife of Robert Wickliffe, Sr. 

Robert Todd ( who is sometimes referred to as General Todd) 
came to Harrodstown January 30th, 1777; was Avounded in 
the attack on McClelland\s Station (December 29th, 177G); 
patented land where Covington now stands ; was engaged in 
an expedition against Indians at Paint Creek Town, Ohio ; 
was a member of the Virginia Assembly, 1780; member of 
the Danville conve"ntion of May, 1785; was one of the com- 
missioners to fix seat of government for Kentucky, 1792; 
elector of senate, 1792 ; senator for Fayette county, 1792-96 ; 
Avas one of the nine commissioners appointed by Governor 
Garrard (1803) to copy partially burned public books and 



KENTUCKY DURING THE UEVOLUTIONARY WAR. 09 

restore the records of state; was circuit judge for a number 
of 3^ears and held other otHces of honor and trust. 

Lcvd Todd (also ref(u-red to \)y historians as General Todd) 
came first to Harrodstown, but in 1779 established a station 
ten miles southwest of Lexington ; afterward removed to 
Lexington. He was chosen clerk of the Court of Quarter 
Sessions at its first sitting (spring of 1777); was a member 
of the Danville convention of Mav, 1785, August, 1785, and 
of that of 1787. He fought at the Blue Licks, August 19th, 
1782, and is alluded to as having held there the rank of 
captain. 

II. The Heroines of Bryan's Station. — An incident oc- 
curred during the siege noted in the preceding chapter in 
which a high order of womanly courage and devotion was 
exhibited, and which has been a theme for many a pen. One 
essential in the location of those stations was the placing of 
them in such a position that with palisades of the ordinary 
height they could not be fired into from any elevation within 
gunshot; and this in general precluded the building of them 
so as to inclose sjjrings of water. When an attack was appre- 
hended, the inmates took the precaution of having a supply of 
water on hand ; but as in this instance the whites were sur^ 
prised, no provision had been made. When hasty repairs and 
other preparations had been made in the fort, the Avant of 
water imjn-essed itself upon all, and as it was rightly con- 
jectured that an ambuscade had been established near the 
spring, which was about eighty-five yards outside the walls, 
they knew that any attempt the men might make to approach 
it would 1)0 certain death and a consequent depletion of the 
fighting force, which was very small as compared with the 
enemy. The women were appealed to, on the ground that as 
they had been in the habit of going to the spring, the Indians 
would regard their doing so now as evidence that their plans 
had not been discovered and would not fire upon them, lest 
they might thereby lessen their chances to destroy the settle- 
ment. It has been said that they did not relish the proposal, 
that at first they demurred, etc., all of which may well be 
si)ared from the story, unless we are to assume that when a 
woman is heroic she nnist be senseless and act under different 
impulses from those which move men to daring deeds. It 
was apparently as perilous an enterprise as any which their 



100 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

heroic fathers, hus])ands, sous, and brothers had ever under- 
taken; and not to have felt some trepidation and manifested 
nu)nientary hesitancy would have implied stohd insensibility. 
But true courage is that which realizes that danger is to be 
encountered, and that wounds or captivity or speedy death 
may be just in the })ath where duty calls, and yet goes sternly 
forward, come what will. Those women know their peril; 
and life, even in the wilderness, Avas sweet to them; but they 
knew also all that was involved in their refusal or their com- 
pliance, and they chose the heroic, the possibly sacrificial, 
course. The boldest among them spoke out (there are leaders 
in all momentous enterprises) and set forth, Jemima Johnson 
foremost, and all wdio were strong enough for the service fol- 
lowed. Then from the fountain under the guns of five hun- 
dred fierce enemies, whose delight was to shed blood of man, 
woman, or child, they brought back in their vessels the indis- 
pensable supply. Fortunatel}^ Captain Craig, who pro})osed 
it, had reasoned aright : they came back unharmed ; but the 
deed was none the less imperishable. It has been the subject 
of a poem by Mrs. Jennie C. Morton, a granddaughter of 
one of the heroines of that day, and by Maj. Henry T. 
Stanton. The Kentucky Society of Daughters of the Ameri- 
can Eevolution has inclosed the historic spring with an octag- 
onal wall of solid masonry, in which tablets are inserted 
containing suitable inscriptions, among others all the names 
of the noble matrons and maids that could be learned ; and on 
the 18th of August, 1S06, the one hundred and fourteenth 
anniversary, this memorial fabric was unveiled, with imjires- 
sive ceremonies. 

The following are the names of some of the women in 
the fort which have been preserved, most of whom, no 
doubt, participated in the daring act which became historic. 
From them many families in Kentucky and the Western States 
proudly trace their descent: Mrs. Jemima Suggett Johnson 
and her daughter, Miss Bets}^ Johnson ; Mrs. Sarah Page Craig 
and her daughters, Misses Betsy, Sally, Nancy and Polly 
Craig; Mrs. Lucy Hawkins Craig and her daughters. Misses 
Polly and Franky Craig; Mrs. Elizabeth Johnson Craig and 
her daughters. Misses Polly and Nancy Craig; Mrs. Jane 
Craig Saunders and her daughters. Misses Polly, Betsy and 
Lvdia Saunders ; Mrs. Elizabeth Craig Cave and her daughters, 



KENTUCKY DURING TIIK llEVOLUTIONARY WAR. 101 

Misses Ilaiiiuih uud Polly Cave; Mrs. Fanii}^ Sjiimders Lea, 
Mrs. Sarah Clement nanimond, Mrs. Betsy Johnson Bryan, 
and Miss Sarah Bryan (who was one of the youngest of the 
women who went to the spring, and who afterward married 
Col. Wm. Chinn). 

III. Simon Girtj. — It would be well if the name of this 
monster could be erased from the annals of Kentucky, unless 
it may be assumed that some good can accrue to the young 
from a knowledge of how fiendish even a white man may 
become when he puts himself outside of the pale of Christian 
civilization. His life presents nothing to be imitated; and it 
can hardly be said that a picture so demoniac is necessary in 
this enlightened age to awaken those feelings of strong repro- 
bation which incline the inexperienced to shun the paths that 
lead to cruelty and crime. There is a tradition that blows 
inflicted by Gen. Andrew Lewis with a cane aroused a spirit of 
revenge and made him so desperate that he became the implac- 
able foe of the whites ; but even unjust treatment by one white 
man offers nothing in extenuation of the heinousness of his 
crimes against men, women, and children who had never done 
him harm. The young reader who prosecutes the study of 
the history of Kentucky will find that his associates from boy- 
hood were brutal savages, and that he was more brutal than 
they ; that his hatred of the pioneers was more satanic than 
that of the red men who believed that the white man was their 
natural enemy, who had come to drive them from their hunt- 
ing grounds, and many of whose enormities were instigated by 
the British and French; and that he took a keener delight in 
the murder of helpless children and the torture of captive men 
and women than the drunken and frenzied Indians who inflicted 
them. His natural powers of mind were considerable, and he 
had some skill in })lanning and executing military movements, 
so that he exercised a pernicious influence over the barbarous 
tribes. Twice his conduct seemed to evince that he was not 
utterly dead to every sentiment of humanity — the first when 
he rescued Kenton, for the time, from the stake, and the other 
when he posted his brother near the mouth of the Kanawha 
to warn Colonel ISIarshall not to be decoyed to the north shore 
of the Ohio with his boat; but the first appears to have been 
whimsical, while the sincerity of the latter has been doubted. 



10i> YOUNG teople's historv OF kkxtuc;ky. 

It would 1)0 unprofitable to give the details of his murderouH 
career, which was terminated at the battle of the Thames, 
when he was killed and trodden under foot by the Kentucky 
Mounted Kifles. 

IV. Capt. James Estill. — Of this man, whom Governor 
Morehead pronunced one of Kentucky's bravest and most 
beloved defenders, only enou^rh is recorded to show that he 
was an intelligent and active leider; a determined fighter and 
a generous promoter of the safety and comfort of those who 
needed assistance in reaching the new settlements. In 177i), 
he was enrolled as a private in Ca})t. John Holder's company 
of IVIadison county riflemen; and in the winter of 1780-81, he 
was made judge of quarter sessions at Harrodsburgh. At the 
desi)erate battle of Little Mountain, where he lost the victory 
l)V the failure of a sul)altern to execute an order, and his life 
because his right arm had not fully recovered from the break 
of three months before, he displayed thecjualities of a general, 
as well as indomitable courage. "-He left a name," says Gov- 
ernor Morehead, "of Avhich his descendants may well be proud 
— a name which will live in the annals of Kentucky as long as 
her men appreciate patriotism and devotion to the cause of 
humanity and civilization." 

V. Joseph Proctor. — This man, afterward a Methodist 
minister, was one of the heroes of the battle of Little Mount- 
ain, and was otherwise distinguished in pioneer times. When 
Captain Estill was struggling with his stalwart foe. Proctor, 
though in extreme peril himself, watched for an opportunity 
to shoot the Indian, but could not do so for fear of killing his 
captain: but when Estill fell he instantlv shot the savage dead. 
Col. AVm. Irvine was badly wounded, but when the retreat 
began. Proctor fought as they fell back and helped him, till a 
horse was found. Mounting this, with Proctor's assistance, 
he made his escape. He accomi)anied three expeditions into 
Ohio, and on one of them killed an Indian chief. It has been 
said of him: "He was a brave soldier, a stranger to fear, and 
an tirdent friend to the institutions of his country." When 
he died, after having been an ordained minister for thirty-five 
years (Decenil)er 2nd, 1844), he was buried with military 
honors. 

VI. Monk Estill. — In the family of Capt. James Estill was 
a negro slave, Monk, who was intelligent, bold as a lion, and 



KENTUCKY DURING THE KEVOLUTlOXAKV WAR. lOo 

faithful to his jjionocr friends us though he had been a free 
wliite settk'r, defending also his own rights. When the 
Indians suddenly ai)i)eared before EstiU's Station (March 
2()th, 1782) killing Miss Jennie Gass and capturing Monk, as 
noticed in th(^ ))receding cha[)ter, his exaggerated account of 
the strength and })reparation of the garrison doubtless savetl 
the women, children, and few invalid men from ca[)ture or 
massacre. When the battle of Little Mountain opened, two 
days afterward. Monk, who was still a prisoner with the 
Indians, cried out: "Don't give way, Mas' Jim! There's 
only about twenty-five red-skins, and you can whip 'em!" 
This was valuable and encouraging information to the whites. 
When the Indians began to advance on Miller, when he was 
sent to prevent a flank movement and guard the horse-holders. 
Monk called also to him to hold his ground and the white men 
would win. Instead of being instantly killed, as was to be 
apprehended, even though the savages might not understand 
his English, he made his escape before the fight closed, and 
got back to his friends. On their return to the station, 
twenty-five miles, without sufficient horses for the wounded, 
he carried on his back, most of the way, James Berry, whose 
thigh was broken. He had learned to make gunpowder, and, 
ol)taining saltpetre from Peyton's cave, in Madison county, he 
frequently furnished this indispensable article to Estill's Sta- 
tion and Boonesborough. He has been described as being five 
feet five inches high and weighing two hundred pounds. He 
was a respected member of the Baptist church when whites 
and blacks worshipped together. He was held in high esteem 
by the settlers, and his young master, Wallace Estill, gave 
him his freedom, besides clothing and feeding him as long as 
he lived thereafter — till about 1885. 

VII. The Children Knew the Story by Heart. — Chief 
Justice Robertson said of the battle of Little Mountain: "It 
is a mem()ra])le incident, and perhaps one of the most memor- 
al)le in the history of the settlement of Kentucky. The use- 
fulness and popularity of Captain Estill; the deep and uni- 
versal sensation excited by the premature death of a citizen 
so gallant and so beloved; the emi^hatic character of his asso- 
ciates in battle; the masterly skill and chivalric daring dis- 
played throughout the action ('every nuui to his man and each 
to his tree' ) ; the grief and despondence produced by the 



104 YOUXG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

catastrophe — all contributed to give Estill's defeat a most 
signal notoriety and ini))ortancc, esi)ecially among the early 
settlers." And the historian Butler adds: "All the story, 
with all its circumstances of locality and of the fight, was told 
and told again and again until even the children knew it by 
heart. No legendary tale was ever listened to with as intense 
anxiety, or was impressed so vividly on the hearts of the few 
of both sexes who then constituted the hope and strength of 
Kentucky." 

VIII. The Terrible Experience of Benliam and Watson. — 

When the ten men of Major Rogers' force, at the tight at 
Four-Mile Bar, as noticed in preceding chapter, broke through 
the Indian line, the two men wounded and left on the ground 
were Robert Benham and John Watson. Benham was shot 
through the hips, but crawled among the boughs of a fallen 
tree and the savages failed to discover him. Lying there 
without food till late in the afternoon of the second day, he 
then discovered a raccoon near him and shot it. Instantly 
some one called out; but fearing that it was an Indian he 
remained silent and reloaded his gun, determined to sell his 
life dearly as possible. He presently heard the same voice 
much nearer, and then the exclamation in plain English: 
"Whoever you are, for God's sake answer me !" On replying, 
Watson came to him, with both arms broken. It proved 
to be a happy meeting for both, and resulted in their final 
recovery and return to their friends. Watson kicked the rac- 
coon within Benham's reach, and the latter skinned and 
cooked it — one could provide fuel with his feet, while the 
other could work with his hands. When they had eaten — 
Benham feeding his companion — Watson suggested a plan by 
which he could procure water, and had his companion place a 
hat between his teeth, which he filled by wading far enough 
into the Licking river to dip by stooping over. Benham made 
use of their shirts to dress their wounds, which soon began to 
heal. Watson drove turkeys and other game within rifle-shot 
of Benham, and when anything was killed, Watson kicked it 
within reach of his friend, who attended to dressing and 
cooking it. In this way they lived at that spot two Aveeks, at 
the end of which time Benham could get forward somewhat 
by using his gun as a crutch ; but it took them two weeks to 
reach the mouth of the Licking, one mile. Benham being 



KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 105 

iihlc to hol)l)lo about a little and Watson to begin using one 
arm, they put up a small shed, and here, subsisting as before, 
they remained until late in November, Avhen a flat-boat came 
down the Ohio and they succeeded in attracting attention and 
allaying the suspicions of the boatmen, who at first suspected 
that Indians were trying to decoy them ashore. The two 
sufferers, almost naked, and each helpless without the other, 
were taken to Louisville, where they received the necessary 
care and soon recovered of their wounds. Benham after- 
ward served on the expeditions of Harmer, St. Clair, Wayne 
and Wilkinson, and finally purchased a home near the spot 
where he and Watson had had their singular experience. 
He was one of the justices of the peace that constituted the 
first county court of Campbell county. He lived to old age. 
IX. Mrs. Samuel Daveiss and the Indians. — The rescue 
of this lady and all her children, almost unharmed, and so 
soon after their capture, as noticed in Chapter VI, was due 
almost wholly to her own presence of mind. The four savages 
who rushed into the house after Mr. Daveiss had gone out and 
set off unarmed for his brother's, followed by the fifth red- 
skin, found her and her seven children in bed. One of them 
contrived by signs to inquire how far to the next settlement. 
She knew the importance of gaining time by making the dis- 
tance appear great, and indicated eight miles by counting on 
her fingers. When directed to rise, she got up at once, dressed 
herself, and then began showing them articles of clothing, one 
by one, which so entertained them that it was nearly two hours 
before they left the house. Meanwhile the one who had been 
pursuing her husband had come back flourishing his toma- 
hawk, while his hands were red with pokeberry juice, by which 
he meant to indicate that he had killed Mr. Daveiss. She was 
not deceived, and so continued to keep her perfect self- 
control. Taking everything from the house they could con- 
veniently carry, they ju'esently showed signs of intention to 
kill th(; younger children because they could not travel fast 
enough, whereupon she ordered the older ones to carry them 
on their backs. When the rescuing party overtook them and 
fired upon the Indians, one of them knocked the oldest boy 
down and scalped but did not kill him; and she, seeing that 
she could render no assistance to the rest, jumped into a sink- 
hole with the babe in her arms, thus saving herself and it from 



10() YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

anticipated tomahawkino;. The Indians did not stand to fiofht, 
however, and mother and chikh"en were recovered unhurt with 
the excej)tion that the oldest boy lost his scalp. Her cool and 
deliberate way of deahng with her captors had so retarded 
their movements that the pursuers overtook them before nine 
o'clock that morning, though Mr. Daveiss had to run five 
miles before he could get help with which to return to the 
cabin and take up the trail. She could handle a rifle skillfully, 
and had formed in her mind a plan to procure one or more of 
theirs stealthily that night and fire upon them as they slept — 
calculating that a night attack might throw those who were 
not killed into such a panic that they Avould flee. It is said 
that those who knew her believed she would have made the 
attem|)t and would probably have succeeded. 

X. Mrs. Samuel Daveiss and the Robber. — One day Daveiss 
and some of his neighbors set out to find a scoundrel who had 
his hiding j)lace somewhere in their section, from which he 
stole j)roperty and committed other outr:iges, and up to that 
time he had defied the laws. While they were absent searching 
for him, he walked into Daveiss' house, armed with rifle and 
tomahawk, and unaware that he and his ways were known or 
that he was being hunted. Only her children were with her; 
but the desperate character of the outlaw did not disconcert 
her. She set out a bottle of whiskey and asked him to have 
a drink. Suspecting nothing, he set his gun up by the door 
and proceeded to help himself. When he had done so and 
turned around he was terrified to find her standing in the door 
with the gun cocked and leveled at him. She told him to take 
a seat or she would shoot. He asked what he had done, to 
which she replied that he had stolen her husband's property 
and that she meant to take care of him herself; and, gun in 
hand, she kept him there till the men returned and took 
charo;e of him. 

XI. Saved by His Dogs. — Shortly before settlements 
were formed in what is now Whitley county, John T^^e, with 
his son and two or three other men, having encamped at the 
head of the Big Poplar creek, were attacked after dark by a 
party of Cherokees. John Tye was wounded and his son was 
killed. The other men fled at the first fire. The Indians 
rushed upon the camp, but before the foremost of them could 
reach the wounded man they were met by two huge cur dogs, 



KENTUCKY DURING TIIK REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



107 



which ticrcx'ly defended him ;iiid his dead son. One of the 
Indiuns was severely hurt l»v tlieni, imd when he cxtri(;!ited 







FRANKFOUT. 



himself from their jaws the party fled precipitately, leaving 
their moeeasins and legoins on the opposite side of the creek 
where thev had left them in order to ford the stream. 



10<S YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



CHAPTER yil. 

FROM THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION TILL KENTUCKY BECAME 
A STATE. SEPARATION FROM VIRGINIA. 

1783-1792. 

1. The treaty of peace between England and the United 
Sttites was finally agreed upon and signed November 30th, 
1782, more than a year after the battle of Yorktown had put 
an end to hostilities on land; but the news did not reach Ken- 
tucky till the spring of 1783. This gave some assurance of 
exemption from further serious Indian depredations, as well 
as of independence of a foreign and oppressive power, and 
was hailed with gladness by the people west of the Allegha- 
nies, whose conflicts and sufferings during the seven-year 
struggle had exceeded those of their kindred of the Atlantic 
states, and who had won a title to a vast wilderness domain 
wdiich afterward became the six states of Kentucky, Ohio, 
Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. 

2. With the coming of peace came also a great influx of 
popidation and a desire to ol)tain land and engage in the 
peaceful and profitable pursuits. Land oflices were estab- 
lished in November, 1782, by Thomas Marshall, surveyor for 
Fayette county, at Lexington ; and John May, surveyor for 
Jefferson count}', at Cox's Station. At Boonesborough was 
already one for the county of Lincoln. Soon afterward the 
settlers, present and incoming, began more eagerly to lay 
claim to choice lands by locating treasury warrants and by 
direct purchase from Virginia. There had been no authorized 
survey of the territory by Virginia, so that the description of 
an entry was generally indefinite. The survey of any particu- 
lar tract was left to the individual claiuRint, and this often 
conflicted with the claims of a neighbor — a })lat overlying 
wholly or in })art one previously made; and almost intermin- 



TiiK C'LosK OF 'riir: mkvoli tiox, 



10! I 



able confusion in the matter of laud titles ensued. The absence 
of prescribed and lepd in(>thod soon gave rise to vexatious 
and often ruinous litisration, all the effects of Avhich had 
hardly ceased to be felt a century afterward. In the lauiiuaijc 
of Judge Rowan: "The territory of Kentucky was cumbered 
and cursed with a trii)le layer of adverse claims." 

3. With the increase of i)opulation, growing industries, and 
more home-like life, came also problems of government. Vir- 
ginia was not unmindful of fh(^ interests of Kentucky in this 
respect, and early in 1 T.S.'J, ])rovided for the regular adminis- 
tration of justice. The three counties, Fayette, Jefferson, 
and Lincoln, were formed into one 
judicial district, and a court ap- 
pointed, consisting of John Floyd, 
Samuel McDowell, and George Muter, 
judges. The first meeting of the 
court was at Harrodstown, March 
.'>rd, and John iNIay was appointed 
clerk. Danville was chosen as the 
place at which it would subse- 
quently sit. 

4. A question of more absorbing 
interest to them, however, than that 
of district courts and county officers 
was that of a separate state existence, 
to obtain this can better be given you in consecutive order, be- 
fore we notice certain Indian incursions and outrages to -which 
the settlers were frequently subjected during the eight years 
of which this chapter treats. 

5. After the close of the revolutionary war a sentiment in 
favor of separation from the parent state began to manifest 
itself; and with the growing population and consequent 
increasinsf need for local or home government this became 
more pronounced. 




SENATOli JOHN ROWAN. 

The various steps taken 



110 YOUNG PEOPLk's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

(I. To understand the si)iiil of the people, and especially 
to place a riijht estimate upon the conduct of certain leading 
men who had nuich to do in moulding ])ul)lic sentinu^nt, 3'ou 
should Inivc a distinct view of the conditions then prevailing. 
It is important to note, tirst, that these pioneers had in mind 
the fact that up to 1775 tli(5 thirteen colonies had been each a 
separate and independent conunonwealth ; that it was not until 
1778-71) that they all united in a general government; and 
that even up to the time of which we now speak this union was 
regarded as a kind of loose compact, Avhich had been entered 
into chiefly for the more effective })rosecution of the war with 
Great Britain. Thus, you see, that in their earnest desire for 
separate political existence they were but seeking to adopt the 
course maintained for more than a century by the colonies 
along the sea-board. The circumstance that for a time the 
sentiment in favor of entering the union of states was weak, 
and at no time une(|uivocal in the minds of many, is accounted 
for in part by the fact that the idea of federal union Avas 
comi)aratively new to them, in i)art by conditions that need 
now to be briefly stated. 

7. With but little help from Virginia (which was ungrudg- 
ingly given, however, when it could be given at all), they had 
gained a footing in the wilderness. Havino^ maintained them- 
selves thus far against many disadvantages, they reasonablv 
felt themselves able to do so under more favorable cgndi- 
tions. In the main they had furnished their own supplies and 
fought their own battles. They had been very weak, but now 
they had grown strong — the po})ulation, though much scat- 
tered, was probably from tAventy to twenty-flve thousand, in 
the summer of 1788. They were shut off by a great natural 
barrier from easy comnumication with the United States ; and 
as they now began to look forward to the necessity of finding 
an accessible market for their peltries and farm })r<)ducts, they 
realized that their natural highway was the jNIississippi river, 
by which they could pass to Spanish i)orts and to the gulf. 



THE closp: of the revoltttton. Ill 

8. Thev wore still cxijosed to the dangor of invii.sion by 
poworful Indian tribes, and they knew the need of a home 
government which eould provide for meeting every peril and 
punishing every outrage promptly ; and their experience had 
taught them that they could not expect this from states beyond 
the mountains. They were a daring and adventurous race, 
with a confidence in themselves born of trial and achievement; 
and they had among them many men to whom they could locjk 
for leadership in war and wisdom in council. Add to all these 
the further fact that from time to time inducements were held 
out to them to avail themselves of alleged advantages that 
would accrue from their being independent of the sea-board 
states and free to make at least a commercial alliance with 
Spain ; and you will clearly comprehend why they were some- 
what impatient of the restraints laid upon them by their 
dependence upon Virginia (though they really loved and hon- 
ored their mother state), and why the sentiment in favor of 
union with the thirteen states was of slow growth, though it 
became at last strong and sincere. 

9. In February, 1784, Col. Benj. Logan, the chief military 
officer of the county of Lincoln, after consultation with other 
leadins: men, called an informal meeting to consider the con- 
dition of the district. Each militia company was reijuested 
to send a delegate. The convention met at Danville, Decem- 
ber 27th, 1784, and discussed the question of parting from 
Virginia. They took no more decisive step than to ask the 
people to elect a convention of twenty-tiye delegates to take 
final action. 

10. The first formal convention assembled May ord, 178."), 
at Danville, which remained the territorial capital till 17!)2. It 
was decided that separation was desirable; but they deter- 
mined upon nothing further than to pass resolutions in favor 
of separation, and to send these with an address to the people, 
asking them to consider the question for themselves. 



112 YOUN(3 PEOTLk's IILSTORY' OF KENTUCKY. 

11. The second convention met August lUh, 1785. B}-^ 
Ihis time some decisive action seemed to be urgent. Rumors 
of an Indian outbreak had gained currency, and the delegates 
felt the need of either help from the parent state or full 
authority to act for themselves in nu^eting threatened danger. 
It was manifest that they could not rely on timely aid and 
equally manifest that full })owerto meet emergencies promptly 
should be lodged with the ])eo})leAvho were in jeopardy. Thev 
drew up a bold petition to the Virginia Assembly, and set out 
their views in strong terms in an address to the Kentuckians. 
Virginia agreed to the plan in general, Init imposed conditions. 
One of these Avas that the people, through their representa- 
tives in a third convention, should declare for separation; the 
other that before se[)arati(ni should take place the consent of 
the Federal Congress to admit Kentucky to the Union sht)uld 
be given. 

12. This gave rise to parties, and l)rought out the fact that 
there was an element among the })eo})le who favored luiion 
only on the condition that all their rights and interests were 
secured, and advised forcible separation from Virginia and a 
treaty with Spain if they were not; another that was for 
maintaining unconditional loyalty to Virginia and the Federal 
Union. In the spring, of 1786 an election w^as held to choose 
delegates to a third convention, which was to assemble in Sep- 
tember. Gen. James Wilkinson boldly advocated an imme- 
diate declaration of independence w^ithout awaiting the action 
of Congress as proposed by Virginia, and his views were 
adopted by a considerable nund^er; but it soon became evident 
that his following w^as not sufficient to determine the action of 
the coming convention. 

13. This, the third one, met on the fourth Monday in Sep- 
tember, 1786; but at that time many of the delegates were 
absent on Clark's expedition against the Indians on the 
Wabash, and a (luoruni for the transaction of business could 
not be had. They adjourned from day to day till January, 



TIIK CLOSK OF THE KKVOLUTION. llo 

17S7, when a .-^ufHt-iont number were j)re8ent to organize. A 
nieniorijil to the Virginia Assembly had been prepared, how- 
ever, by those who had i)rcviously assembled, explaining delay 
and asking an alteration of some of the terms of the first act. 
This caused an entire revision, Avhich reijuired the election of 
another convention in August, 17S7. It i)rovided that only a 
majority of two-thirds could decide in favor of separation ; and 
fixed the first day of January, 1789, as the time when the laws 
of Virginia should cease to be binding on Kentucky. The 
first act had fixed September, 17.S7, as the time. 

14. The convention having ordered the election of the dele- 
gates as required, adjourned. The peo})]e were angry and 
disgusted ; and in this state of mind they were agitated by a 
report (which proved to be false) that negotiations were on 
foot between the United States and Spain by which the former 
would cede to Spain the navigation of the Mississippi for 
twenty years in consideration of advantages to be enjojed by 
the eastern states alone; and this rumor was seized upon 
to int-rease dissatisfaction with the terms proposed by Vir- 
ginia and to alienate the people from the Federal Union. The 
free navigation of this stream was a vital matter to Ken- 
tuckians. The treaty of peace with England had guaranteed 
them this right ; and they resented the alleged proposition to 
barter it away for the benefit of others. A meeting called to 
consider the matter was held at Danville in May, but even 
before it assembled, it had become known that the United 
States authorities had entertained no thought of disregarding 
the interests of the western settlers, and the meeting adjourned 
without taking action. 

15. General "Wilkinson, however, continued his efforts to 
strengthen his })arty, and the Spanish authorities were active 
and })('rsistent, though it is impossible to notice in a work of 
this kind the dct.-iils of the so-called "Spanish Conspiracy." 
The primary ol)je(t of Spain was to induce Kentucky not to 
apply for admission to the Union. 

"^8 



114 



rOUNO PEOrLE's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



IG. Ill Juno, 1787, Wilkinson carried to New Orleans a cargo 
of tobacco, ostensibly to find out what privileges would be 
granted to Kentuckians desiring to find a Siianish market. He 




LINCOLN AND THE OHIO KIVEU KEEL-UOAT. 

was hospitably received; allowed to deposit his cargo in the 
king's store-rooms; sold his tobacco for about five times its 
cost in Kentucky ; and brought back the assurance that Spain 
would grant, on the most liberal terms, the free navigation of 



THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION. 115 

the Mi!r«sissii)pi to Kentucky as a separate goveruinciit, but not 
to IIk' Ignited States. The most flattering inducements were 
hehl out . 

17. Meantime, September 17th, 17S7, th(^ fourth conven- 
tion met, and l»y a unanimous vote decided to accept the terms 
hist offered by Mriiinia. 

18. In the A'irginia convention, .June, 17.S<S, cahed for the 
purpose of a(h)[)ting or rejectintr the constitution of tlie 
United States, Kentuckv countA' liad fourteen deleajates. Of 
these, only three voted in favor of adoption, eleven being 
opposed to it, and evidently not satistied that union Avould be 
to the advantage of their own state in case of its separation 
from Virginia. 

19. On the ."hxl of July, 17<S<S, the old Congress took up the 
question of the admission of Kentucky, but declined to act 
upon the })etition and referred it to the new government, 
which was to go into operation in tln^ s})ring of 1780. 

20. On the ^Sth of July, 17S,S, the fifth convention as- 
sembled at Danville. The action of Congress was now com- 
numicated to them, and it was further understood that the 
north-eastern states were earnestly oi)posed to the admission of 
Kentucky, unless Vermont and Maine should be admitted at 
the same time ; and thus new occasions of anger and disappoint- 
ment gave tempornry encouragement to the l)arty in favor of 
violent and unlawful se})aration. The convention after some 
heated discussion on the (juestion of forming at once and sub- 
mitting to a vote of the people a constitution creating an 
independent state, it was resolved that another convention 
should be elected in October, to meet in Novenil)er, and take 
the best steps for securing admission to the Union and the 
navigation of the Mississippi, and otherwise do what should 
seem best for the interests of the chstrict. 

21. Previous to the meeting of this convention, the Vir- 
ginia Legislature passed a third act of separation, re(j[uiring 
Kentuckv to elect a convention to meet in Julv, 17bl>, and 



IK) 



VOUN(i riOOI'LK S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



})r()vi(l(^ for the foniintion of u .state guveniment. Some new 
conditions were imposed which trave dissatisfaction, ])ut these 
were repealed when conn)laint was made ])>' a subsequent 
convention. 

23. The sixth convention assembled November ord, 17SH, 
and after considering the (|uestion of illegal separation and the 
ever-jjresent question of the navigation of the Mississippi, 
iinally adopted an address to the Virginia Legislature, praying 
the good offices of that state in procuring the admission of 
Kentucky to the Union. 

23. The seventh convention met July 2()th, 17<SII, and 
remonstrated against the obnoxious 
provisions of Virginia's third act of 
se})aration. These were repealed hy 
a new act which required another 
convention. 

24. The eighth one met July 2Gth, 
1790, and formally accepted the Vir- 
ginia act of separation. A petition 
to the President of the United States 
and to Congress was adopted and 
transmitted ; and provision was made 
for a ninth convention, to form a 
state constitution. 

25. On the 4th of February, 1791, an act for the admission 
of Kentucky to the Union passed both houses of Congress. 

26. April 2nd, 1792, the ninth convention met and adopted 
a constitution, under which Kentucky became a state June 
1st, 1792. 

27. Samuel McDowell was president of eight of these con- 
ventions, and Thomas Todd (afterward a judge of the United 
States Supreme Court) was the secretary of every one. 

28. For about seven years after Gen. Ben Logan called the 
first meeting to consider the condition and needs of the people, 
Kentucky appears rather as the patient suppliant for a local 




COL. SAMUEL M'DOWELL. 



THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION. 117 

government and for admis.sion to the union of states than 
as a refractory and revolutionary community. Dehiys and 
disappointments; apparent coldness and netjlecton the part of 
the Federal government; and the insidious wiles of the 
Spanish power — through all these the people in general mani- 
fested a devotion to law and order, and steady loyalty to their 
kindred beyond the mountains. 

29. For four years of this time of trial and perplexity 
(178(j to 1790) there existed at Danville a most remarkable 
society, which singularly escaped notice at the hands of histo- 
rians and had passed out of the memory of men tUl Capt. 
Thomas Speed, in 1878, discovered among the papers of his 
grandfather, Thomas Speed, who was the society's secretary, 
the record of its meetings and debates. It was composed of 
thirty men who styled themselves the "Political Club.'' The 
minutes of its meetings disclose that in the woods of Kentucky 
were banded together for the study and discussion of (juestions 
of state-craft a body of men who would have done honor to 
any deliberative assembly in either the Old or the New AVorld. 
Among them were the fathers of the first constitution (and 
of the second, for that matter), and they left their impress 
upon every phase of Kentucky history. They were statesmen, 
soldiers and citizens after the Virginia type, who had done and 
were still doing so much to make possible a union of the states 
and lay deep and sure the foundations of a republic which, 
from small and experimental beginnings, became within less 
than a century mighty, commanding, and of beneficent influ- 
ence among the nations of the earth. 

30. The coming of a British agent to Kentucky this 
year (1788) has been regarded as an indication that at this 
time the English people did not accept the result of the 
revolution as final, and that they had hopes of either restrict- 
ing the United States to the territorv bevond the Alleofha- 
nies, or perhaps of even reducing them to subjection. AYhen 
the colonies declared their independence, one Dr. John 



ll.*^ YOUNG IMCOPLe's HISTORY OF KKNTUCKY. 

Connelly, .in Enijlislinian, owned two thousand acres of land 
on the Ohio, opposite the Falls — jjresent site of Louisville. 
In 1780 (July 1st) it was declared that he was a British 
subject and had joined himself to the subjects of the king 
when the war began. His lands at the Falls were adjud<>'ed 
to be confiscated. In 17<S8 he came from Quc^bec, pretending 
to inquire into the possil)ility of recovering his claim. He 
told certain prominent gentlemen at Lexington, confidentially, 
that Great Britain would give the same ])r()t(M'tion to Ken- 
tucky as to Canada, and guarantee to her the navigation of 
the Mississippi, jn'ovided she would ally herself to the British 
power; that there was a large body of troops in Canada ready 
to be dispatched for the capture of New Orh^ans. A rumor 
got atl(Kit that a British spy was in town, and the indignation 
of the people was so great that it was deemed prudent to 
have him privately conveyed to Maysville, on his wa^' to 
Canada, to save him from violence. 

31. Much as Kentuckians were incensed by failure, after 
successive trials, to obtain separate government, and much as 
many of them doubted the propriety of a})})lying to be 
admitted to the league of states, they were in no tem[)er to 
consider for a moment an alliance with a government whose 
officers on the border had incited the Indians to massacre 
their countrymen, and were still encouraging them to con- 
tinue their barbarous warfare. 



o^«=:c 



PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

I. Hon. John Brown. — This was the oldest son of the 
Rev. John Brown and Margaret (Preston) Brown, of Staun- 
ton, Virginia. The family connection includes the Prestons, 
Breckinridges, McDowells, Harts, and several other distin- 
guished ones in Kentucky and Virginia. He was born at 
Staunton, Sei)tember 12th, 1757. After receiving the rudi- 
ments of education, and having some training in the hardy 



THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION. 



11() 



pursuits incident to the state of society in those times, he was 
sent to Princeton Colleire. When the collesfe was broken up 
on the retreat of the American army throuirh the Jerseys, 
he volunteered for service under General Washington and 
remained with his troops some time after the crossing of the 
Delaware, Afterwards he enlisted in a Rockbridge compan}'^ 
which served under (Jeneral LaFavette. lie completed his 
education at AVilliam and Mary College; was for two years 
assistant in the school of Dr. Waddill; studied law in the 
office of Thomas Jefferson ; came to Kentucky in 1782, and 
soon began that career as a citizen, soldier, and statesman 
which made him one of the foremost men in our history. He 
was active in })lanniug and i)rom()ting expeditions into the 
Indian country and accompanied one 
of the most successful of them ; took 
a i)rominent part in the movements 
to ei^'ct an independent state govern- 
ment, obtain for it admission to the 
Union, and secure for the west the 
free navigation of the JMississippi; 
was a Kentucky member of the Vir- 
ginia Assembly : was one of the mem- 
bers of the old Congress, for V h'- 
ginia, 1787-88 ; a member of the Dan- 
ville convention of 1788; member for 
the Kentucky district in the new 
Congress, 17811-1)2; was appointed a 
member of the local board of war, 
1791; in 1792 was elected United States Senator for Kentucky 
and Avas re-elected in 1798, closing his second term in 1805 ; 
was President of the United States Senate, 2)ro fern., 1803-4. 
During Jefferson's administration he declined to accept 
important and lucrative offices; also declined to accept prefer- 
ment proffered by President Monroe. He was the first 
mem])er of Congress sent from the Mississippi valleVo When 
his senatorial term expired, ho retired to private life; but 
continued to interest himself in all that concerned the welfare 
of the growing connnonwealth. He died in Frankfort in his 
eightieth year, August 28th, 1837. 

II. ,John Filson. — Too little is known of this man, the first 
to publish a history and a map of Kentucky, both of which had 




SENATOR JOHN BROWN. 



120 



YOUNG TEOrLE's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



intrinsic merit and much influence in attracting immigration. 
This first councclcd account of the wonderful region west of 
the AUcghanics, about whicli many exciting stories had reached 
not only the sea-))()ard states but the countries of Euro|)e, was 
hekl to be of so nuich consequence as an answer to inter(;sted 
trans- Atlantic inquirers that it was translated into French within 
a 3'ear after its first pul)lication (1784), and three editions 
Avere reprinted in England by Imlay, who incorporated it in 
his Topographical Descri])tion of the Western Territory. 
About two-fifths of Filson's History of Kentucky consists of 
the adventures of Daniel Boone, written from Boone's dicta- 
tion, but in a style peculiarly Filson's own. As a writer he 
was diffuse and somewhat bond)astic, l)ut he did not indulge 

in exaggeration or seek to sul)stitute 
mere flights of fancy for historic truth 
and accurate description. He was ac- 
tive, enttTi)rising, keenly obserj^-ant, 
and well educated for one of his 
time; and his own researches as well 
as information imparted by Boone, 
Todd, Harrod, and others, enabled 
him to give his work the character of 
authenticity. Of his origin, and of 
his life prior to his a})})earance in 
Kentucky, little is known, and his 
career as a pioneer and explorer was 
so brief as to leave little for the 
chroniclers of that j)eriod to record. 
A short time before the publication of his history and map, he 
was a teacher in Fayette county — the second one who taught in 
the log school-house which stood near the site of the present 
court-house in Lexington. To his other scholastic attain- 
ments he added that of a skillful surveyor, which doubtless 
induced Denman, Patterson and others to associate him with 
them, in 1788, in the purchase of a large body of land oppo- 
site the mouth of the Licking river, upon part of which Cin- 
cinnati was afterward built. The plan of a town had been 
agreed upon, and drafted by Filson, to which, at his sugges- 
tion, the company had given the name of Losantiville (the 
mouth opposite the village), and Avhen the party arrived on 
the site of the future great city they decided to defer survey- 
ing and staking off lots till sju-ing; and Filson, with several 




JOHN FII.SON. 



THE CLOSK OF THE KEVOLUTIOX. 121 

others, went up to Nortli Bend, thence up the Great Miami, 
surveying its nieanderings. It appears that he ventured fur- 
tlierthan his associates were wiHing to go; that eventually he 
couchulcd to set off alone across the country to return to the 
camp on the Ohio and was killed by Indians, as nothing was 
afterward heard of him. 

III. The McAfee Brothers. — These men were prominent 
in the affairs of Kentucky, militar}' and civic, during three or 
four decades from 17 To, and numy of their descendants have 
been notable men of their times. There were five brothers, 
James, George, Robert, Samuel, and William, sons of James 
McAfee, Senior, of Virginia. James, George and Robert, 
with some other gentlemen, came down the Ohio in the spring 
of 177.>: visited the Falls and some points in the interior, as 
indicated in preceding chapters; returned in August to their 
Virginia homes, having made a trying and almost disastrous 
journey ; were deterred by Indian troubles on the frontiers from 
making further explorations until 1775, but in the spring of 
that jear the five brothers were at Boonesborough and Harrods- 
town, and cleared and planted land near both stations. In the 
fall some of the company returned to Virginia and in May, 
177(>, started back with families and stores to make permanent 
settlement, but were prevented by obstacles in transporting 
their eifects by canoes, and later by the destruction of their 
outfit which they had left concealed in the wilderness. As 
the war of independence was raging, the execution of their 
l)r()ject was hindered for more than two years. In 1779 they 
and their families were settled on the ground chosen four years 
before, on Salt river, wllliin six or seven miles of Harrods- 
town, afterward known as McAfee's Station. Defensive works 
seem to have been built at two places on the river, as one, 
where a cal)in had been built four or five years previous, was 
known as James ^IcAfee's Station. From this time ( 17711 ), 
the name of the brothers and their associates are found in con- 
nection with the active and stirring events which transpired 
during the remainder of their lives. 

l\\ The First Newspaper in Kentucky. — On the 11th of 
August, 17.S7, John and Fielding Bradford published in 
Lexington the first number of the Kentiicke Gazette. The e 
was retained as the final letter in the name of the territory till 
March 14th, 17S1), when some advertisements were sent for 
publictition, in which the Virginia Legislature had given the 



122 



YOlTN(} PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



word its present spelling. The brothers dissolved partnership 
May 31st, 17S.S, l)ut tTohn continued the paper till April "1st, 
1802, when he gave up the establishment to Daniel Bradford 
(a son), who published the Gazette for many years. The first 
number, it is said, was printed on a sheet of the size known 
as demy (which is indefinite, as there are two sizes of this); 
the second on a half sheet; and as pa})er was hard to get, it 
was afterward printed for some months on a half-sheet of 
foolscap. The type was brought by boat down the Ohio to 




OFFICE OF THE "KENTUCKE GAZETTE," 17S7 — THE FIRST PRINTING- 
HOUSE IN KENTUCKY. 

Limestone (now Maj^sville), and thence by pack-horse or 
wagon to Lexington, in July, 1787. During the time when 
it was difficult to replenish the stock of tyi)e, John Bradford 
ingeniously supplied missing letters by carving them out of 
seasoned dogwood. This pioneer editor, printer and publisher 
had served awhile in the revolutionary army, came to Kentucky 
in 1779, when he was thirty years old, and remained a short 
time; in 178"), he brought his family and settled on Cane Run, 
near Lexington. He was on one of the expeditions against 
the Indians at Old Chillicothe. 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 123 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FROM THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTION TILL KENTUCKY BECAME 
A STATE. INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. EXPE- 
DITIONS OF IIARMAR AND ST. CLAIR. 

17«3-17!)L>. 

1. The years 1783, 17S1, and 1785, were notably years of 
ofrowth in population and increased activity in the land specula- 
tion; and the absence of Indian raids on a large scale gave 
the })ooplo some feeling of security and enabled them to 
engage more generallv in clearing and cultivating the soil. 
There was also during this ])erio(l greatly increased mercantile 
trade. 

2. Though there were no invasions in force, hoAvever, the 
fre(|uent irruptions of sjiiall bodies into the interior, and their 
attacks on the boats of immigrants descending the Ohio, were 
destructive and harassing, and contr!l)utednuu-h to increase dis- 
affection towards a government that could not protect them and 
would not promptly consent to their organizing an eiiicient 
government of their own, as previously noted. 

3. In Ai)ril, 17.s;i, Indians hanging about the settlements 
on the Beargrass killed one of the most prominent and use- 
ful men in that section, Col. John Floyd; and during these 
and a few subsequent years, the Ohio river was the scene of 
numerous outrages, committed by savage bands lying in wait 
along the northern shore to rob and murder. 

4. Early in 1781, Simon Kenton having returned, after 
nine 3''ears' absence, to his improvements in Mason county, 
assisted Edward and John Waller and George Lewis to erect 
a block-house on the present site of Maysville ; and numerous 
small settlenuMits were made in different localities — some with- 
out the precaution of fortifying against Indian attack. 



124 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

5. In 1784, a party of forty inimipfrants, having- incau- 
tiously encamped one night, were attacked, and about half of 
them killed; in March, 1785, a Mr. Elliott, who had built 
near the mouth of the Kentucky river, was killed, and his 
house burned, and the other members of his family were dis- 
persed; also, some time in 1785, six of a party of immigrants 
under a Mr. McClure, encamped on Skegg's creek in Lincoln 
county, were killed. One of Mrs. McClure' s children was 
among the slain. She and another child, with a negro woman, 
were captured, but afterward rescued by Col. William Whit- 
ley, who pursued and intercepted the savages and killed and 
wounded several of them. 

6. In April, 178(5, a party of Indians who had stolen 
horses from settlers on the Beargrass were followed across 
the Ohio by Col. Wm. Christian, with a company of men, 
who overtook them after a rapid march of twenty miles. In 
the fight that ensued, Christian and one of his men were 
killed. The Indian force was destroyed. 

7. Two men were killed in an attack on Haggin's block- 
house in Harrison county; in October a large number of 
families travelling by land had encamped between Big and 
Little Laurel rivers, and at night were surprised by Indians, 
who killed twenty-one persons, captured some, and dispersed 
the rest. Some time during this year occurred a desperate 
and destructive fight, for a time hand-to-hand, between a 
company of eighty white men, led by Col. Wm. Hardin, of 
Breckinridge county, and a large body of Indians on Saline 
creek in Illinois, in which, after both sides had lost heavily 
the Indians were repulsed. 

8. So common and so dreadful had become the robberies 
and butcheries that General Clark was authorized to adopt 
retaliatory measures, and called for a force of volunteers and 
militiamen. A thousand men were soon assembled at Louis- 
ville. In September, 178G, having dispatched provisions bv 
keel-boats, which were to proceed by way of the Ohio and the 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 125 

Wabash to Vincennes, he set out Avith his troops and marched 
b}^ land to that place — his object being to drive the Indians 
from the upper waters of the Wabash and destroy their towns 
and crops. At Vincennes, the little army lay for nine days 
awaiting the supply boats. 

9. The provisions carried by the troops were almost 
exhausted; the river was low and the weather was warm, so 
that on the slow voyage half that on board was spoiled. A 
march toward the Indian towns was begun, but disaffection 
had already set in, which soon grew to insubordination, and 
the general who had hitherto been successful in every enter- 
l)rise could not control his troops. Though at this time but 
thirty-five years old he had become greatly addicted to drink, 
and no longer commanded the respect and contidence of his 
soldiers. The expedition failed; and his usefulness, as it 
proved, was forever ended. 

10. When the expedition had reached Silver creek, oppo- 
site Louisville, at the beginning of the march, Clark sent Col. 
Ben Logan back to Kentucky with orders to raise as quickly 
as possible a force to march against the Shawnees. Logan was 
soon at the head of four or five hundred mounted riflemen, 
with whom he crossed the Ohio at Maysville and marched 
rapidly to the headwaters of Mad river. Here he burned 
eight Indian towns, destroyed many fields of corn, killed 
about twenty of the savages, including a chief, and brought 
away seventy or eighty prisoners. His own loss was about 
ten men. 

11. In the home of a widow Skeggs, on Cooper's Run, in 
Bourbon county, were Mrs. Skeggs, a widowed daughter 
with one child, three unmarried daughters, and two sons. In 
April, 1787, Indians attacked the house at night. The con- 
struction of the building was such that three of the daughters 
in one room could not be defended by the rifles of their 
brothers. The old mother, one son, and two of the daughters 
were killed ; one daughter was made prisoner, and af tei'ward 



126 YOUNG PEOrLE'S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

killed; while the widowed daughter and her child and one of 
the brothers escaped. The oldest daughter killed a savage 
with a knife, and the sons made heroic efforts to save their 
mother and enable the w^idowed sister and her child to escape 
after the house had been tired. Two of the Indians were 
afterward killed by a })ursiiing party. 

12. In the summer of the same year the house of John 
Merrill, in Nelson county, was attacked. How it was success- 
fully defended by the brave wife is noticed at the end of this 
chapter. At a station at Drennon's Lick, in Henry county, 
several persons were killed ; and in Mason county numerous 
dei)redations were connnitted. To prevent the recurrence of 
raids, thefts, and outrages, several hundred men, under com- 
mand of Col. John Todd, actively aided by Simon Kenton, 
invaded the Indian country : burned again the rebuilt Chilli- 
cothe and other towns, laid waste the tields, and killed many 
of the Indians. Kenton organized a body of rangers, and for 
some years did effective service in punishing the Indians and 
protecting the settlements along the northeastern border. 

13. In May, 1788, a remarkable engagement took place on 
Salt river, near the mouth of the EoUing Fork. On board a 
flat-boat, conveying kettles from Louisville to Bullitt's Lick, 
near the present site of Shepherdsville, were twelve men and 
one woman. A short time before dark, as the boat lay by the 
northern bank, they were attacked. The boat was unfortu- 
nately so chained to a tree that when assailed by the Indians, 
outnumbering them ten to one, they found it exceedingly diffi- 
cult to unfasten and float it away, after an hour's fighting. 
After five of the men were dead, one mortally Avounded, and 
'three others so disabled as to preclude the possibility of escape, 
the three men unhurt refused for some time to abandon the 
Avounded. They carried the three helpless men to shore and 
hid them in the brush and then sought to remove the woman, 
but she was so beside herself with fright that she w^as inca- 
pable of profiting by their assistance and was left. When 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 127 

these three brave men saw that nothing could be done to aid 
others, they broke through the Indians who had crossed and 
collected on the south bank; but before they could effect their 
escape one was mortally wounded, and another had a foot 
badly broken, while the third was unhurt, and escaped. 

14. The wounded man made his way to Bullitt's Lick on 
one foot till it gave out, then by crawling, and without food, 

• arriving in the neighborhood of the settlement on the fourth 
dav, when he was carried in. He finally recovered. The 
woman was captured but was at length ransomed by a trader, 
after which she returned to Kentucky. About thirty Indians 
were killed in the fight. 

15. A station built on Lick creek, four miles east of Shel- 
ley ville, by Capt. Robert Tyler and Bland Ballard, Sr., and 
called Tyler's Station, was attacked during this year (1788) 
by fifteen Indians. Ballard had built a cabin near a sugar 
camp, some distance from the fort, and he and his wife, with 
three daughters, were in this house when the Indians fired 
from ambush and killed a son, Ben Ballard, who Avas hauling 

I wood. They then assailed the house. The younger Bland 
Ballard was at the fort, from which he hastened with his 
rifle to defend the family ; but he was unable to drive off the 
savages before they had killed his father and Mrs. Ballard 
(who was the young man's step-mother), and two of the 
daughters. The A'oungest of the three sisters was wounded 

\ with a tomahawk, but not fatally. Six of the Indians were 
^ killed. 

1(>. Numerous minor instances of Indian raids, attacks, 
theft and destruction of stock, murders and captures, occurred 
during the years 1787 and 1788, and occasionally in 1780. 
The British continued to keep their stations along the north- 
ern frontier garrisoned ; and to them was attributed much of 
the responsibility for these outrages on Kentucky. The gen- 
eral government had as yet done little to protect the western 
settlers, and had been unable to have the treaty carried out 



12S YOlNd PKOPLK's history of KENTITCKY. 

by which Eiii^hiiul had airrecd to abandon her ])ost,s on 
American soil. The Inchans, incited lo such action and 
encouraged by their British friends, utterly disregarded the 
several treaties made with Virginia for the security and 
ad\aiitage of her citizens in Kentucky. 

17. Early in 17IH) their attacks on families and small sta- 
tions and on immigrants descending the Ohio by boats were 
renewed with even increased malignity. In January they cap- 
tured a boat about fifteen miles above Maysville and killed or 
carried aw^ay cai)tive all the passengers; in March, ten or 
twelve persons were killed at Kenton's Station, and the settle- 
ment was temporaril}^ broken up; and about the same time 
three boats were assailed near the mouth of the Scioto; and 
settlements on the Beargrass, at Big Bone Lick, and else- 
where in the interior were subjected to their murderous visits. 

18. In April, Gen. Charles Scott, with two hundred and 
thirty Kentuckians, joined General Ilarmar, of the United 
States army, who had under command one hundred regulars, 
and crossing the Ohio at Maysville (April l<Sth), marched by 
a circuitous route to the Scioto river, with a view to intercept 
a band of Indians by marching down that stream. A few 
Indians were killed, but the expedition had little of practical 
result. Incursions and the massacre of small bodies of whites 
were frequent during the summer. 

19. President Washington favored vigorous measures; but 
Congress was slow to act. At length, however, he adopted 
such a course as was in his })ower, and furnished General 
Harmar more than three hundred regular troops, with authority 
to call upon Pennsylvania and Virginia (including Kentucky) 
for a sufficient force of volunteers. The conmiand was in- 
creased by enlistment to about fourteen hundred men ; and in 
September, 17i)0, he marched from Fort Washington, now 
Cincinnati, toward the Miand towns. Ilarmar allowed a de- 
tachment of regulars and Kentucky volunteers, amounting to 
one hundred men, under command of Col, John Hardin, to be 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 129 

drawn into an ain))iisradp, where they were engaged with more 
than three times their numl^er of savages, and W'cre repulsed 
with heavy loss, while he lay with the main body within six 
miles, doing nothing to relieve Hardin or afterward to pursue 
with the large force at his command. 

20. Two days afterward, a))out one-third of his force, 
again detached from the main body, with which hitter he lay 
idle, encountered odds and fought at great disadvantage ; and 
again there was slaughter and the whites were compelled to 
retreat. The ex})edition thus ended in disaster — and in dis- 
grace to the general. Kentuckians had expected much good 
from the expedition. They realized, instead, the fruitless loss 
of many of their brave men ; and the Indians had been encour- 
aged to continue their outrages rather than overawed and 
induced to desist. 

21. One immediate effect of this experience with a regular 
army oitiicer was to destroy what little confidence the people 
of Kentuck}' had in the ability of the Federal government to 
deal effectively with their savage foes. In December, 1790, 
they })etitioned Congress to allow them to fight the Indians in 
their own way. In January, 1791, that body established for 
Kentucky a Local Board of War, with discretionary power to 
])rovide for the defense of the settlements. It ^vas composed 
of able and experienced men, who had the wisdom to plan and 
the boldness to execute. They had the confidence of their 
])eople. These were Gen. Charles Scott, Harry Innis, John 
Brown, Benjamin Logan, and Isaac Shelby. 

22. In May (1791), they organized a force of eight hun- 
dred volunteers and sent them against the Indian towns on 
the "VVabash, near where LaFayette, Indiana, now stands. 
The veteran, Charles Scott, was chief in command; Gen. 
James Wilkinson, second. S'etting out May 23rd, they reached 
the Indian towns early in June. When General Scott led the 
main body to attack the ])rinci])al town, he found the Indians 
trying to escape in canoes across the Wabash. He ordered 

9 



I'M) YOUN(} PKOI'LE's history of KENTUCKY. 

General Wilkinson with a l)attalion to follow them, and his 
riflemen inflicted much loss, emptying five of their canoes. 
Two companies under command of a major and their captains 
were sent to cross below and attack an Indian town on the 
other side. The Indians fled. Meanwhile, Col. John Hardin, 
who had been sent with a hundred and eighty men to strike 
some smaller neighboring towns, had killed and captured 
about sixty of the enemy. General Wilkinson was now sent 
with about four hundred men to the mouth of the Eel river, 
where he drove the Indians from an important town, burned 
it, and destroyed hundreds of acres of grain. The Indians had 
suffered a loss of more than a hundred killed, many taken 
prisoners, and the destruction of their growing crops; and 
realized the difference between Kentuckians led by their own 
general and a mixed force under the direction (not under the 
lead) of one who sent his troops in detachments and unsup- 
ported to fight overwhelming odds. 

23. This was so early in the year, however, that the Indians 
could rebuild their towns and replant their crops, and be 
ready in the autumn to begin a new series of raids into Ken- 
tucky. The Board of War took measures to cripple them for 
the winter. In August five hundred men were sent under 
command of General Wilkinson, with Colonels Hardin and 
McDowell, to the same section. Reaching the most impor- 
tant Indian town, they attacked it, killed nine of the enemy, 
captured thirty, burnt that and other towns, laid waste about 
five hundred acres of their growing crops — an apparently cruel 
measure, but it was the Indian way. The unprotected settlers 
in Kentucky could not be safe from savage barbarity unless 
the barbarians were either killed or deprived of the means of 
subsisting their families while the men Avcnt on the war-path. 

24. In March *)f this year the Federal War Dei^artment 
had placed under the command of Gen. Arthur St. Clair, 
Governor of the Northwest Territor}^ two thousand regulars, 
composed of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, for a cam[)aign 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. lol 

against the Indians ; but ho was not read}'' for active operations 
before Novenilx'r. 

25. Meanwhile, there was an ahnost constant succession of 
attacks by predatory bands. Creeping through the forests 
here and there throughout the inhabited parts of the state 
they fell suddenly upon exposed settlements, wrought quick 
destruction, and eluded i)ursuit by rapidh^ retiring beyond the 
border. 

26. One es|)ecially notable conflict occurred on the Ohio 
river, some distance above Maysville (March 24th, 171»1). 
Capt. William Hubbell, who, after settling his family near 
Frankfort, had gone east on business, was returning in a flat- 
boat. The party on board consisted of nine men, three 
women, and ei^ht children. About davlio:ht that morninof 
they were attacked by from seventy-five to a hundred Indians, 
who approached them in canoes; but Hubbell, a brave, pru- 
dent, and sensible man, who had done six 3'ears of service 
during the revolution, had made everj^ possible preparation, 
having the day before seen indications of trouble ; and as soon 
as the canoes had come within close musket rang^e of the boat, 
partly surrounding it, the little band of white men opened an 
effective lire on them, and after a most intrepid and well- 
conducted tight, drove them off. During the engagement the 
Indians in one canoe attempted to board the boat, but Hub- 
bell, though one arm had been broken, beat them off with 
shots from two pistols at hand, and with sticks of wood. 
Another boat, which had been with Hubbell's the night 
before, but had fallen behind, came in sight during the 
engagement, and the Indians turned away from such a desper- 
ate conflict, and attacked that. Meeting with no resistance 
from the latter, they killed the men and captured the women 
and children. 

27. Re-enforcing their canoes with fresh men from the 
shore, and placing the women before them, they again 
attacked Hubbell" s boat. There were now but four men in 



132 YOUN(i rEOPLF/s HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

this which had not been killed or disabled : but these fought 
with deadly effect, firing deliberately whenever an Indian 
exposed himself, if they could shoot without killing a 
woman. The canoes at length retired to the shore; at this 
time only two men were unhurt and able to handle the oars, 
and the Indians had gathered along the bank; but the 
un wounded men succeeded in rowing out of range of their 
guns, though for a time exposed to a shower of Ijalls; and the 
boat, with its bloody cargo of dead and wounded men and 
horses (of which some on board had been killed), reached 
Maysville about twelve o'clock that night. 

28. The women and children, who had lain doAvn so as to 
be protected by the sides of the vessel, were all unhurt except 
a little boy, who was wounded on the head and in one arm by 
balls that had passed through the boat's side. Of the men, 
three were killed and live wounded. Attacks on immigrant 
boats occurred at intervals for a long time afterwards. 

29. By November, 1791, General St. Clair Avas ready for 
a campaign. He had enlisted in the several states two thou- 
sand recruits for the regular arm}^ Kentuck}- had been called 
on for a thousand volunteers ; but the people not only had no 
confidence in St. Clair, but were intensel}^ prejudiced against 
him ; and for once Kentuckians declined to enlist. They knew 
that the Federal authorities had made an unaccountable mis- 
take in appointing him to the command. He was known to 
have made no reputation as an officer during the revolution; 
he was now old and afilicted with rheumatism and gout; and 
had had no experience in cami)aigning against Indians. To 
Kentuckians the idea of drafting men for military service 
(compelling them to fight for their country) was shameful; 
but there was no other way to answer the call of General St. 
Clair, and this was resorted to. When they had been con- 
scripted and organized, no general officer could be found who 
would take command. This was finally accepted by Col. Wm. 
Oldham. 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 133 

JJO. With these and the reguhir.s he had been able to organ- 
ize, St. Clair had more than two thousand men, well armed 
and supplied. Alxmt the 1st of October, 1791, he set out 
from the })resent site of Cincinnati, and marched in a slow and 
orderly manner, observing strict militaiy regulations — build- 
ing forts and store-houses along the route, and constructing 
roads for artillery. On the 3rd of November he reached a 
small tributary of the Wabash. By this time most of his 
Kentuckians had abandoned him, and his force did not number 
more than fourteen hundred. 

31. lie was attacked shortly after daylight (November 4th) 
by a])out an ecjual number of savages. Neglect of scouting had 
made it possible for the Indians to be upon them while their 
arms were laid aside and they were preparing their morning 
meal. Confusion ensued; but the troops were ably officered, 
except as to their general, who was back in his tent, too old 
and sick and stiff to mount a horse. The officers rallied their 
men, who fought bravely, but they were surrounded and at a 
fearful disadvantage. The Indians, rushing in with their 
tomahawks, for close and certain work, were charged with 
the bayonet; but the slaughter of the whites was so great and 
the contest so hopeless that at length they made a dash for a 
road towards the rear, with fixed bayonets, cleared it, and 
fled. ^lore than eight hundred had fallen. Among the slain 
was Gen. Richard Butler, of Pennsylvania, a brave and good 
officer, second in command. The Indian chief. Little Turtle, 
is said to have withdraAvn his warriors from pursuit because, 
as he said, they had killed enough. St. Clair was helped 
upon his horse by his aids and so escaped. 

32. The survivors reached Fort Washington in four days; 
l)ut the rumor had gotten abroad in Kentucky that they had 
stopped at Fort Jefferson and were besieged. Generals Scott 
and Wilkinson called for volunteers to relieve them, and a 
strong force quickly responded ; but 1 hey were disbanded on 



134 YOUNG TEOrLK's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

Icjirning the facts. Kentucky Avas still to be harassed by small 
bands of prowling and blood-thirsty savages. 

153. In the spring of 1792, an attack was made on the set- 
tlement in (^uinn's Bottom, about four miles from Frankfort, 
in which six persons were killed and two slaves captured ; and 
subsequently during the year several were made on Green 
river, in Ohio county, in which a number of persons Avere 
killed, wounded, and captured; and one on the house of a Mr. 
Stephenson, in Madison, in which Stephenson was -wounded 
and a young man killed. Occasionally, the parties attacked 
killed aiul wounded their assailants, and sometimes pursuit 
was made, but with little result. 



>><!*4o 



PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

I. Col. John Floyd. — This was one of the foremost and 
best men of the early pioneer days. He was one of five 
brothers, three of whom were killed by Indians. On his 
father's side he was of Welsh blood; on his mother's, of 
English-Indian, his maternal grandmother having been a niece 
of Powhatan, the Indian chief. He was born in Virginia in 
IT-IO. His education was very considerable; his mind of a 
high order; his manner agreeable and impressive. He was 
more than six feet in height and of handsome person. In 
May, 1771, he was surveying in what is now Lewis county, as 
the deputy of Col. Wm. Preston, who held appointment as 
surveyor of Kentucky (or, as it was then designated, Fin- 
castle count}^ Virginia). In Lewis county he located and 
surveyed two hundred acres for the orator of the revolution, 
Patrick IIenr3^ He was actively engaged in surveying for 
more than two months along the Ohio as far as the Falls ; 
next, in the present counties of Scott, Fayette, and Woodford. 
In July he returned to Virginia, under orders of Governor 
Dunmore to surveyors and settlers to abandon temporarily 
their work and stations because of threatened Indian hostili- 
ties. In April, 1775, ho returned with a considerable party 
and became the principal surveyor of the Transylvania Com- 



IXDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIKS. 135 

pjiiiy. He w:is one of the delegates from Logan's Station to 
the Boonesboroiigh convention, i\Iay, 1775; and in July took 
a })roininent part with Boone and others in rescuing the Misses 
Boone and Calloway from the Indians. In the autumn of 177(5 
he \vent back to Virginia to take })art in the war of independ- 
ence, and in company with a Colonel Radford fitted out a 
privateer. They destroyed much British shi))ping, but were 
at length ca})turcd and confined at Dartmouth, England, for 
nearly a year. The jailor's wife, who had a brother in America, 
favored the cause of the colonists, and assisted them to escai)e 
and cross the channel to Paris, whence, aided by Dr. Franklin, 
they returned to Virginia, and after somewhat over a year's 
absence Colonel Floyd was again in Kentucky. 

In addition to surveying (of which he did a great deal), 
he took an active and leading part in the defense of the settle- 
ments and in plans to promote immigration and development. 
He accompanied General Clark on his expeditions into the 
enemy's country, and made himself so known and feared 
that the British conmiandant at Detroit offered him money 
and the title of duke to join the British power in stirring up 
the Indians to make war on the settlements in Kentucky, 
which of course he spurned with indignation. In 1779 he 
established a station near the Falls, but soon afterward 
removed into the interior and built on Beargrass creek, about 
six miles from its mouth, the station known by his name. 
His prompt and generous but costly and partially unavailing 
effort to relieve S(|uire Boone's party and punish the savages 
who had assailed them on their way to stronger settlements, 
has been noticed. His life was saved here by a man with 
whom he had had a personal difference (Capt. Samuel Wells), 
and whose magnanimous conduct made them friends for life. 
On the retreat he was on foot, nearly exhausted, and closely 
pursued by Indians, when Wells, on horseback, overtook him. 
Dismounting, he assisted Colonel Floyd into the saddle and 
then ran by his side to support him. 

On the 12th of April, 17<s:^), he and his brother Charles were 
riding together some miles from the station, apprehending no 
danger from Indians, as no recent trouble had occurred, when 
they were fired upon from ambush and Colonel Floj^d was 
mortally wounded. His brother, al)andoning his own horse, 
which had been hit, sprang up behind the wounded num, threw 



inr. 



YOUN(J TEOPLE'S history OF KENTUCKY 



his anus around him, took tho reins, and rode homo M'ith him, 
where he cUed in a few hours. Floyd county was named in 
his honor. 

II. Men En}»aged In the Salt River Fight. — The owners of 
the boat on which occurred the desperate engagement noticed 
in preceding chapter were Henry Crist and Solomon Spears. 
With them were ten men, only five of whose names have been 
kept. These were Christian Crepps, Thomas Floyd, Jose})h 
Boyce, Evan Moore, and an Irishman named Fossett. Six 
had been killed or mortally wounded while Crist, Crepps, and 
Moore yet remained unhurt and might have escaped, but they 
refused to abandon the woman and the wounded men until 

everything had been done that could be 
done to save them. In the attempt to 
break through the savages who had 
gained the south shore, Crei)ps received 
a wound of which he died shortly after 
he was found and carried to Bullitt's 
Lick. Crist was wounded in the foot, 
but after great suffering reached the 
settlement and finally recovered. 
Moore was the only man who escaped 
without a wound. The gallant and gen- 
erous Crepps left a wife and two chil- 
dren, the latter a daughter, who became 
the wife of Charles A. Wickliffe, after- 
ward governor of Kentucky. 

III. Col. William Hardin. — This 
noted pioneer was one of the earliest settlers in Breckinridge 
county. He Avas a skillful fighter, a leader in times of danger, 
and of such indomital)le resolution as to seem unconquerable. 
He brought on the fierce and bloody battle referred to in the 
preceding chapter by invading what the savages thought at 
that time their own country. Thc}'^ were building a town too 
close to Hardin, and in threatening nearness to other Ken- 
tucky settlers ; and he and his neighbors thought it proper 
to drive them off ; and Indian depredations during the year 
had also aroused a spirit of retaliation. 

When the conflict with the main body began, Hardin was 
shot through the thighs; but he] would not relincjuish his com- 
mand. Seating himself upon a log he remained during the 
whole action, coolly giving orders and encouraging his men. 




GOVERNOR 
CHARLES A. WICKLIKKE. 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 137 

IV. "Wild-Cat" McKinuey. — In the spring of 17S3 a 
stranger came to the little settlement where Lexington now 
stands bringing a newspai)er in which were publi.shed the 
articles of j)eace with Great Britain. The pioneers felt a deep 
interest in tlie ])ul)licati()n, rejoicing to know that terms had 
at last been agreed n[)on, thongh not yet ratified by Congress; 
and as the owner of the paper would not leave it with them, 
they asked John JMcKinney, who taught the first school in the 
county in a cal)in a few rods outside the palisades, to make a 
copy of the articles, to be retained among them. Before day- 
light the next morning he went to the school-house for that 
purpose, and while at his desk busily writing he heard a slight 
noise at the door, and on looking round saw an enormous wnld- 
eat, with her forefeet on the step, her tail over her back, 
bristles erect, and glaring into the room. Moving slightly he 
attracted her attention, and as their eyes met he made an 
effort to disconcert her by an exercise of the reputed power of 
the human eye to quell by a steady gaze even the most fero- 
cious animals; but this only angered the cat, and before he 
could jump to his feet and seize a cylindrical ruler wdiich lay 
in his reach she had sprung ui)on him, fastened her teeth in 
his side, and begun to tear furiously with her claws. In a 
moment his clothes were stripped from his side and his flesh 
dreadfully mangled. He struggled to beat or tear her loose, 
but the teeth of the strong and furious creature Avere fastened 
between his ribs, and his efforts seemed to increase her rage. 
He then threw himself agfainst the ed^e of the table and 
pressed with all his weight and strength upon her, whereupon 
she set up a wild cry, while he called loudly for help, and 
their mingled shrieks alarmed the town. Some women were 
first to arrive; but the noise inside was so unaccountable that 
they hesitated to go in, till at last one of the boldest made the 
venture and found the man still pressing against the table, 
writhing in agony, while the cat was by this time nearly dead. 
She is said to have screamed out: "Good heavens, Mr. 
McKinney ! what is the matter?" To which he answered, 
turning towards her his agonized face, streaming with sweat 
from the effects of ]);iin, fright, and exertion, wdiile his now 
lifeless assailant still clung to his side: "I have caught a cat, 
madam I" Some of the neighbors now came in and with diffi- 
culty removed the tirmly-locked teeth from his ribs. He grew 



lo8 YOUNG people's III8TORY OF KENTUCKY. 

very sick, and was for a tinio confined to his l)ed, Ijut entirely 
recovered, and took an active ])art in yul)se(|uent affairs. 
Some years after\yard he removed to Bourl)on, and was one 
of the five members from that county in the Danville conven- 
tion ( 17112), wiiich formed the first constitution of Kentucky; 
and on the 4th of June of that 3^ear he took his seat in the 
first lei^islature, at Lexino'ton. He removed to Missouri in 
l.S2(), and lived to old age. 

V. The Heroines of South Elkhorn. — In the attack made 
on the settlement in Qninn's Bottom, noticed in the preceding 
chapter, the conduct of the two Mrs. Cooks was remarkable 
for its intrepidity and the coohiess which enabled them to see 
\vliat was necessary to be done. Their three children were in 
the cabin; and when their husbands were shot, they barred 
the door as soon as the younger man had gotten inside. One 
of them seized the only rifle in tlie house, ])ut found no bullets, 
whereupon slie cut a bit of lead from a bar and shaped it 
to enter the muzzle of the ffun, thus succeeding in loading it. 
The Indians had been firing at the door, but it was so thick 
that the balls did not })enetrate the room ; and one of them, 
appreliending no danger from the women, had seated himself 
on a log, where the heroine with the gun could see him 
through a narrow aperture in tlie wall ; and she took such 
deliberate aim that he fell dead. Some of tlie savages imme- 
diately climbed to the roof and kindled a fire; but by the time 
it began to take effect one of the women was in the loft and 
the other was handing up water, with which it was extin- 
guished. The boards were set ablaze again and again, till the 
water supply was exhausted, and still there was fire; but the 
ready-witted defenders broke up a lot of eggs which they had 
at hand and (jiienchecl the blaze with them. Lastly they were 
compelled to strip the bloody coat from the man who had 
gotten in before he died, and smother a new flame with that. 
Twice the Indians fired through the roof, taking this chance 
of striking the brave woman in the loft, ])ut without effect. 
By the time the last expedient to put out fire was exhausted, 
the savages became uneasy lest a young man whom they saw 
escape should bring from a neighboring settlement a rescuing 
party, and, throwing their dead fellow into Elkhorn creek, 
hurried back over the Ohio. 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 1^19 

VI. Mrs. John Morrill. — About twelve o'clock one iiioht in 
the suninier of 1787 the barking of a dog awakened John Merrill 
at his home in Nelson county. Opening the door to ascertain 
the cause of the disturbance, he was tired upon bv Indians and 
had an arm and thigh broken. He fell upon the floor and 
called upon his wife to close the door. She had scarcel}' done 
so before the Indians were trying to choj) it to pieces or beat 
it in w^ith their tomahawks, and they quickly made a breach. 
Mrs. Merrill, a strong and courageous woman, w^as armed 
with an ax, and either killed or badly wounded four of them 
as they tried to force their way in. Two of them then mounted 
to the roof and started down the chinmey, but, seizing a bed, 
she rip})ed it and threw the feathers on the lire. These 
were quickly ablaze and the stilling smoke brought down the 
Indians, whom, again snatching up her ax, she killed. Turn- 
ing to the door she found the last of the party so far in that 
he received a gash in the cheek before he could withdraw, 
whereupon he yelled and hastily ran off. Thus the dauntless 
woman had stricken down six of the assailants and badly 
wounded a seventh. It was reported by a prisoner wdio after- 
ward returned that when this last one reached the home of 
the tribe at C'hillicothe, Ohio, he gave an exaggerated account 
of the strength and lierceness of the "Long Knife Squaw." 

VII. Burning' at the Stake. — A vivid idea of the horrors 
of this method of execution as practiced by the Indians is fur- 
nished hy a description of the ])urningof Col. Wm. Crawford. 
It is from the narrative of Dr. Knight, a fellow-prisoner, 
wdio witnessed it. Crawford had undertaken an expedi- 
tion against the Delawares and Wyandots on the Sandusky 
river, in retaliation for Indian outrages on the frontier settle- 
ments, but the greater })art of his connnand were killed or 
captured — most of the prisoners being put to death after sur- 
render. Knight says: "When we were come to the lire, 
Colonel Crawford was stripped naked and ordered to sit down 
by it, and then they beat him with sticks and their lists. 
Presently afterward I was treated in the same manner. Then 
they tied a rope to the top of a post about fifteen feet high, 
bound the colonel's hands behind his back, and fastened the 
rope to the ligature between his w^rists. The rope was long 
enough for him either to sit down or walk round the post once 
or twice and return the same way. He then called to Girty 



140 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

and asked whether they intended to ])ui'n him. Girt}^ 
answered yes. The eokniel said ho wou'd take it all patiently. 
Ui)on this Captain Pipe, a Dehiware chief, made a speech to 
the Indians (thirty or forty men and sixty or seventy squaws 
and children). When the speech was tinished they all yelled 
a hideous and hearty assent to what had )ieen said. The 
Indian men then took up their guns and shot ])owder into the 
colonel's body from his feet as far up as his neck. I think 
not less than seventy loads were discharged upon his naked 
body. They then c:owded about him, and to the best of my 
observation cut off his ears; when the throng had dispersed a 
little I saw the blood running from both sides of his head. 
The fire was six or seven yards from the post. It was made 
of small hickory poles, burnt quite through in- the mijddle, 
each end of the poles remaining about six feet long. Three 
or four Indians would take up, by turns, each a burning })iece 
of wood and apply it to his naked body, already burned black 
by powder. These tormentors presented themselves on every 
side of him, so that w^hichever w^ay he ran round the post they 
met him with burning fagots and poles. Some of the s({uaws 
took broad boards, upon which tliey put quantities of burning 
coa's and hot embers and threw upon him, so that in a short 
time he had nothing but coals of fire and hot embers to walk 
upon. In the midst of these extreme tortures, he called to 
Simon Girty and begged him to shoot him ; but Girty made 
no answer, and he called to him again. Girty then, by way 
of derision, told him he had no gun, at the same time turning 
to an Indian who was behind him, laughing heartily, and by 
all his gestures seeming delighted at the iKu-rid scene. He 
then came up to me and bade me prepare for death. He said, 
however, I was not to die at that place, but to be burnt at the 
Shawnee town. He swore profane'y I need not expect to 
escape death, but to suffer it in all its extremities. * * * * 
Colonel Crawford at this point of his sufferings besought the 
Almighty to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore 
his torments with the most manly fortitude. He continued 
in all the extremities of pain for an hour and three-quarters 
or two hours longer, as near as I could judge, when at last 
being almost spent he lay down with his face to the ground. 
They then scal])ed him and repeatedly threw the scalp in my 
face, telling me that that was my 'great captain.' An old 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 141 

squaw (whose appearance every way answered the ideas people 
have of the devil) got a board, took a parcel of coals and 
ashes, and laid them on his back and head after he had been 
scalped, lie then ofot upon his feet and began to walk round 
the i)ost. They next put a burning stick to him as usual; but 
he seemed more insensible of pain than before. The Indian 
who had me in charge now took me away about three-quarters 
of a mile, where I was bound all night and thus })revented 
from seeing the hist of the horrid spectacle. Next morning 
we set off for the Shawnee town. We soon came to the spot 
where Colonel Crawford had been burnt. I saw his bones 
lying among the remains of the fire, almost burnt to ashes. I 
su))pose after he was dead they laid his body on the fire. The 
Indi.-m told me that was my 'big captain,' and then gave the 
scalp halloo."' 

VIII. Scalping- an Enemy. — A scalp was a part of the 
hairy skin of the head cut with knife or tomahawk from a 
fallen enemy. It was considered by the Indians a trophy of 
vnlor — a warrior was honored among his people in proportion 
to the number of scalps he had taken. After shooting down 
a man, woman, or child, an Indian would sometimes even 
dart from under cover and risk his life in order to get the 
scalp, though in general an Indian was very much averse to 
exposing himself, and never fought openly if he could avoid it. 

IX. Beu Stockton. — This was a slave in the family of 
Maj. George Stockton, of Fleming county. Collins describes 
him as having l)een "a regular negro; devoted to his master; 
hating an Indian and loving to moralize over a dead one; 
getting into a towering rage and swearing magnificently when 
a horse was stolen; handling his rifle well, though somewluit 
foi)l)ishly; and hopping, dancing, and showing his teeth 
when a prosj)ect offered to chase the 'yaller varmints.'" 
His master, he says, had confidence in his resolution and pru- 
dence, while ho was a gretit favorite with all the hunters and 
added much to their fun on dull expeditions. On one occa- 
sion, when a ])arty of white men in ])ursuit of Indians who 
had stolen their horses called at Stockton's Station for re-en- 
forcements, Ben, among others, volunteered. They overtook 
the savages at Kirk's Springs, in Lewis county, and dis- 
mounted to fight ; l)ut as they advanced they could see only 
eight or ten, who (juickly disa|)peared over the mountain. 



112 VOINO PEOPLk's history of KENTUCKY. 

Pn'ssing on. they discovered on doscendiii!? the inountiiin 
such indications as convinced thcni that the few they had seen 
wore hut decoys to leatl them into an anihuscade at the hasc, 
and a retreat was ordered, Ben was told of it by a man near 
him ; but he was so intent on jjetting a shot that he did not 
hear, and the order was repeated in a louder tone; whereupon 
he turned upon his monitor a reprovinij look, jrrimaced and 
uvsticulated ludicrously, and motioned to the man to be silent. 
He then set off rapidly down the mountain. Ilis white 
comrade, unwilling to leave him, ran after him and reached 
his side just as he levelled his gun at a big Indian standing 
tiptoe on a log and ])eering into the thick woods. At the 
crack of Ben"s ritie the savage bounded into the air and fell. 
The others set up a tierce yell, and, as the fearless negro said, 
"skipped from tree to tree like grass-hoppers." He bawled 
out, ''Take dat to 'member Ben — de black white man!" and 
the two then beat a hasty and safe retreat. 

X. A Singular Adventure. — One day, probably in 1783, 
three young men set out from Harrodstown in search of 
strayed or stolen horses. Following their tracks for some 
miles they found signs of Indians; but at night they had seen 
neither the latter nor the horses, and as a cold rain was fall- 
ing, they took shelter in a deserted cabin. Fearing to make a 
tire lest it might lead to their discovery by the savages, they 
Avent up into the loft and lay down upon the floor to sleep. 
The floor was made of chiji-boards, resting upon round poles. 
Six well-armed Indians soon came into the cabin, lighted a fire, 
and indulged in mirthful noise — said to be characteristic of 
Indians when in camp and free from want and apprehension. 
One of the white men, lying on his back between the other 
two, attemj)ted to turn over and })ee}) down to ascertain how 
many there were, and as his companions held him to prevent 
it there was a quiet struggle during which the poles broke and 
men and boards fell with a crash among the Indians, so fright- 
ening them that they ran away, leaving guns and accoutre- 
ments, and did not return. The whites were also frightened 
for the nu)ment, of course; but they remained till morning 
and then returned to the station, takino; the abandoned arms 
and ammunition and laushinsf over the singular victorv they 
had won. 



INDIAN INVASIONS AND ATROCITIES. 143 

XI. Resciiort by an Iiuliau Chief. — In the contests be- 
tween the whites unci IncUans during the pioneer duj^s of Ken- 
lucky occasional incidents occurred which indicated that every 
savage was not wholly destitute of pity for a hcl})less captive. 
In Mnrch, 17IK), a boat having on hoard John May, Charles 
Johnston, a Mr. Skyles, a Mr. Flirin, and two sisters named 
Fleming, was conung down the Ohio, having set out for Mays- 
\illc from Kelley's Station on the Kanawha. Ahout daylight 
on the morning of March 2()th, Avhen near the mouth of the 
Scioto, the man on the watch aroused the rest, who were still 
sleeping, and pointed out a sign of danger — the smoke of an 
Indian lire on the Ohio shore. The boatman endeavored to 
row to the Kentucky side ; but before they could leave the cur- 
rent two white men ai)peared on the Ohio side and represent- 
ing that they had escaped from the Indians begged to betaken 
on board. Fearing treachery, it was some time before the boat- 
men could be induced to approach them, the })retended fugi- 
tives meanwhile running along the l)ank, crying and entreat- 
ing piteously. Finally, yielding to the request of Flinn and 
the two ladies, whose sympathies for the pretended sufferers 
overcame their })rudence, May and the others agreed to row 
to their rescue. When they reached the bank Flinn jumped 
ashore, but was instantly seized by Indians who sprang from 
ambush and began at once to fire on the boat. The fire was 
returned and an effort made to get back into the current; but 
the beach was quickly crowded with Indians, and it was found 
inq)ossil)le to do this before all on board would be killed, and 
they ceased firing; but the Indians kept it up until one of the 
Miss Flemings and John May were killed, and Skyles was 
wounded inboth shoulders. Of the captives, Flinn, whose kind- 
ness of heart had in great ])art led to the disaster, was afterward 
burned at the stake; Skyles was subjected to running the 
gauntlet and afterward condemned to death, but succeeded in 
escapingto the white settlements ; and Johnston was ransomed 
by a Frenchman. The fiendish cai)tors determined to burn 
Miss Fleming alive, but an Indian chief rescued her at the 
moment they were preparing to do so, and conducted her safe 
to Pittsburgh. 

XII. A Noble Boy. — After the battle between Captain 
Ilubbell's boat and the Indians, noticed in the preceding 
chapter, was over, a little son of a man named Plascut came 



144 



YOUNG rEOPLE S HISTORY OF ivENTUCKY. 



to him and coolly asked him to take a ball out of his head. 
Ilubbell found that a bullet, which had })assed through the 
side of the boat where the women and children lay concealed 
had struck the forehead of the young hero and was lodged 
under the skin. He took it out; then the bov said, "That is 




not all;" and raising his arm showed a piece of bone which 
had been shot off the point of his elbow and was hanging by 
the skin. His mother asked in astonishment, "Why did you 
not tell me?" "Because," replied he, "the captain told us to 
be silent, and I thought you would make a noise if I told you." 



KENTICKV A .STATP:. 145 



CHAPTER IX. 



KENTUCKY A STATE. SEVEN YEARS UNDER THE FIRST CON- 
STITUTION. CITIZEN GENET. WAYNE CONQUERS A 

PEACE. RESOLUTIONS OF '98, ETC. 

1702-17119. 

[To oltxintc the necessity of repetition in the matter of successive 
elections for governor and other state officers, a list of all the gov- 
ernors, lieutenant-governors, and secretaries of state, with terms of 
service, is given in Notes and Comments after Chapter XX.] 

1. As noticed in the preceding chapter a constitution was 
framed and adopted in Ai)ril, 1792, under which Kentuclcy 
became a state in the Federal Union on the 1st of June. 
Isaac Shelby, the veteran soldier, who proved himself to be 
also a wise statesman, was chosen governor. 

2. The population at this time Avas probably 100,000. 
Innnigration during the last nine jears had been great, not- 
withstanding the well known suffering and danger that must 
be encountered. 

3. The first legislature met in Lexington on the 4th of 
June. There were then nine counties, and the General 
Assembly, or two houses of the legislature, consisted of forty 
representatives and eleven senators. Among the important 
questions to be acted ui)on was the location of the state 
capital. Danville, Frankfort, and Lexington sought this dis- 
tinction. John Allen, John Edwards, Thomas Kennedy, 
Henry Lee, and Robert Todd were appointed a committee to 
determine the matter, and reported in favor of Frankfort, 
which rei)ort was adopted. John Brown and John Edwards 
were elected United States senators. Laws to regulate 
elections, to raise revenue, to establish courts, to establish 
the office of auditor of public accounts, and various minor 
l)rovisions were passed and the machinery of government for 
the new commonwealth was soon in operation, 

10 




1-16 



KENTUCKY A STATK. 147 

4. The })e()ple were not jet free, however, from Indian 
trouhk's. Marauding bands continued to infest the state. 
The Federal government had taken no decisive steps to reduce 
the tril)es to submission. Boats on the Ohio were intercepted 
and those on board nuirdered or taken captive, and their prop- 
erty carried off; and settlements, especially on the frontier, 
had to be continually on their guard. 

5. Maj. John Adair led about a hundred militia across the 
Ohio to intlict punishment for the oft-recurring outrages, and 
on the (jth of November, 171)2, was attacked by the chief 
Little Turtle with so great a force that the Kentuckians were 
at length compelled to retreat, with a loss of six killed and 
five wounded, and of their pack-horses and sui)plies, though 
thc}^ fought heroically and re})eatedly drove back the enemy. 

6. The Federal authorities, far removed from the scenes of 
danger and distress, believed that terms could be made with 
the savage tribes, and some efforts to treat with them were 
made. In December (1792) Col. »lohn Hardin, accompanied 
by a Major Truman, was sent on a peaceful mission to the 
hostile tril)es and was murdered on the way. Truman was 
killed after the Indians had started to carry him captive to 
their village. President Washinofton sent connnissioners to 
the tribes to offer them just terms and put an end to hostili- 
ties M'ithout nuiking destructive war on them; but they treated 
all overtures with disdain. 

7. In A})ril, 1793, thirty-tive Indians captured and burned 
Morgan's Station, on Slate creek, seven miles from Mount 
Sterling. Most of the men were absent, attending to their 
planting, expecting no danger. Two persons were killed, 
and nineteen (chiefly women and children) were captured. 
When pursuit was made they tomahawked all who were unable 
to march rai)idly, and carried the others to the northwest, 
where they were sold and kept in captivity till after the treaty 
of Greenville. During; the same year three white settlers 



14.S YOUNG l>EOi'LE\s IliyTOKY OF KENTUCKY. 

wcvv killed and sculped near Bear Wallow in Hart county, 
and depredations were committed in Logan county. 

8. In the summer of 1794, a hundred Kentuckians under 
Capt. AVm. AVhitley, of Lincohi county, joined Colonel Orrin 
Tennessee, who had collected several hundred men, for the 
[)urpose of punishinij; the Nickojack Indians in that territory, 
who had been raiding "in Kentucky. After a hard night's 
march, they surprised a town, killed Hfty of the savages, took 
nineteen prisoners, and destroyed the place. Whitley, with 
part of the force, set out to attack another town; but was met 
by a large body of savages and suffered some loss, though he 
succeeded in defeating it. 

9. Early in the spring of 17l)o events occurred which caused 
nmch excitement in Kentucky aiid led to conduct on the part 
of manj^ of her citizens that has been severely criticised by 
certain writers whose |)rejudices blinded them to the impor- 
tance of circumstances Avhich go far to extenuate if they do 
not Avholly excuse all that may have seemed reprehensible. 
To understand the matter in all its bearings, you should 
acquaint yourself particularly with that ])art of United States 
history which treats of the administration of President 
Washington. 

10. One Genet had been accredited by the French govern- 
ment as minister to the United States. Instead of proceeding 
at once to the seat of government (at that time Philadelphia), 
he arrived early in the spring at Charleston, South Carolina, 
and addressed himself to the work of inflaming the minds of 
the people against their own government and inducing them, 
in defiance of its laws and the policy of the administration, to 
ally themselves with France in her struggle for the establish- 
ment of a republic, which had combined against her England, 
Spain, and other monarchies of Europe. The sympathies of 
the American people were naturally with France because of 
the aid she extended to them duriuir the revolution. 



KENTUCKY A STATE. 149 

11. With Kontiukians, two causes operated to intensify 
this feelino-, aiul make them eauer to strike a bhiw for the 
land of La Fayette. In the tirst i)hice, it is probahle that 
nowhere else on the continent was there such deep-seated and 
api)arently ineradicable hatred of the British. To the wrongs 
inliicted upon the colonists, which had led them to revolt and 
establish for themselves a free and independent government, 
was added the atrocious conduct of British soldiers and states- 
men during the revolution and for years after peace was 
declared, in subjecting Kentucky to all the horrors of savage 
warfare. To British influence were attrilnited Indian inva- 
sions, depredations, murder of women and children, torture 
of prisoners, the thousand enormities perpetrated on the early 
settlers of Kentucky since the beginning of the revolution. 
At the conclusion of hostilities between the Americans and 
English on the sea-board, Kentucky received a great influx of 
the gallant soldiers who had fought for independence; but 
instead of finding peace and safety after their contest with the 
British themselves they had for years to feel British ven- 
geance, inflicted by merciless red men at the instigation of 
their white masters, who fed, clothed, and armed them. 

12. Another incentive was the desire, elsewhere noticed, to 
enjoy the unrestricted navigation of the Mississippi river. 
The trading i)osts on the lower waters of this stream, espe- 
cially New Orleans, aiforded almost the sole lucrative markets 
for the sale of Kentucky products. Spain still exercised con- 
trol of this great inland highway, as she held the territory on 
both shores for about 1")() miles from its mouth, and Spain 
was now at war with France. The offer of an opportunity to 
destroy the Spanish power in America and secure to the new 
state this coveted privilege, to avenge the outrages they had 
experienced from the allied British and Indians on the Canad- 
ian border, while striking a double blow for the French people 
to whom they were grateful — all this was exciting and seduct- 
ive, and for a time it blinded the eves of nuuiv to the rcDre- 



150 YOUNG PEOPLK's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

hcnsible conduct of the French minister and to wise and 
patriotic conduct of the great Washington in his efforts to 
save the new republic from "entangling alliances." 

13. In some states, clubs were organized for the purpose 
of discussing the relations of the French and American 
peoples, and for promoting a movement to commit the United 
States to a war policy in favor of France. In Kentucky there 
were three of these, whose object was more directly to bring 
about independent action in this state for the overthrow of 
the Spanish power in North America. These clubs were in 
imitation of those violent revolutionary societies of Jacobins, 
or turbulent agitators, which had for some time existed in 
France. 

14. During the excitement, Genet sent four men to Ken- 
tucky (November, 17i>o), with orders to enlist men for an 
expedition against the Spanish possessions on the Mississippi, 
thoutrh at that time negotiations were going on between the 
United States and Spain, with a view to securing for Ameri- 
can citizens the free navigation of the great river. These 
men brought blank commissions, to be filled out and presented 
to such able and experienced Kentuckians as were necessary 
to oificer a small army for a secret expedition against New 
Orleans, the Spanish capital in North America. A leader was 
found in Gen. Georoe Rogers Clark (see sketch at the end of 
this chapter), and the work of enlisting, organizing, and 
equipping two thousand men was begun ; but pending these 
operations President Washington received information of the 
contemplated movement, and ordered General Wayne, in com- 
mand of troops in the west, to stop it. In the spring of 1794, 
the French government, at the request of the United States 
authorities, recalled Genet, and disavowed all his acts, so that 
the French agents in Kentucky, having now no color of 
authority, abandoned their efforts and withdrew from the 
state. 



152 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

15. 8t. Clair had been succeeded as niilitaiy governor of 
the Northwest Territory by Gen. Anthony Wayne, who 
assembled some troops at Fort Washington. He was author- 
ized to call on Kentucky for a force of mounted volunteers 
to re-enforce his regulars, and had made a requisition upon 
Governor Shelby ; but Kentucky had had a bitter experience 
with the two reo;ular officers, Harmar and St. Clair, and thev 
feared to find in Wayne another general who would lead them 
to useless slaughter and defeat, and again they declined to 
volunteer. The governor was compelled to meet the demand 
by ordering a draft of a thousand men from the militia. Gen. 
Charles Scott, in command of these, marched to join Wayne, 
then about eighty miles beyond the Ohio, near Fort Jefferson, 
which place he reached October 24th. General Wayne, ascer- 
taining that the Indians were in great force in the vicinity of 
the Miami towns, and believing that his army was not in con- 
dition to attack successfully, or to make an active campaign 
during the rigor of winter, concluded not to advance. The 
regular troops went into winter-quarters and fortified, and the 
Kentuckians were allowed to return home. 

16. During their brief experience with General Wayne they 
learned to admire and trust him. He impressed them as being 
not only the bold and dashing man whose daring conduct 
during the revolution had won him the name of "Mad 
Anthony," but as being able, circumspect, and safe as a 
leader. In the summer of 1794, when General Scott was 
called on to rejoin him for a decisive movement, he reported 
to him on the 2Gth of July with sixteen hundred willing men, 
who could be depended upon to endure hardship without com- 
plaint and to do their whole duty in battle. General Wayne 
had now about three thousand men, with whom he soon began 
a destructive march towards the Maumee river. The cam- 
])aign terminated in an engagement at Fallen Timber, in which 
the Indians were routed with heavy loss. The victory was 
decisive. A British garrison, near the battle-field, refused to 



KENTUCKY A 8TATK. 153 

receive the fleeing Indians inside their stockades. Beaten by 
the American army and deserted by their secret allies, their 
spirit Avas broken. When next invited to make a treaty, they 
met the American commissioners at Greenville, Ohio (171>5), 
and agreed upon terms of peace. At last, after twenty years of 
trial, Kentuckians had won freedom from molestation in their 
homes ; but at what a cost of blood and suffering ! It is esti- 
mated that during this time not less than 3,600 men, women, 
and children had met death at the hands of the Indians. 

17. Two important events that occurred about this period 
gave increased assurance of peace, safet}^ and commercial 
advantage to Kentucky. In 1794 a supplemental treaty was 
had with England, by which she gave up her. forts on the 
northwestern frontier, held for more than ten years in viola- 
tion of the agreement that put an end to the revolutionary 
war; and in 1705 Spain made a treaty conceding to the 
Americans the right to navigate the Mississipj)i to the gulf, 
and the right for three years to deposit their produce at New 
Orleans. 

18. Even after Kentucky had become a state of the Unu)n, 
the Spanish authorities in Louisiana were not satisfied to 
abandon all efforts to induce her to ally herself in some way 
with them. The Spanish governor of New Orleans sent 
Thonuis Power, in 1795, on a secret mission to Kentuckv to 
consult with leading public men as to plans to separate the 
entire west from the United States and set up an independent 
government, the final object being alliance with Spain and a 
great Spanish i)ower west of the Alleghanies. It is. doubtful 
whether he received real encouragement from any; and at any 
rate, news came while he was engaged in his mission that the 
treaty had been made between the United States and Spain 
by which, as previously noticed, the latter ceded to the Ameri- 
cans the right to navigate the Mississippi to the gulf, and, for 
the three years, to deposit their produce at New Orleans for 
purposes of exchange and sale. The arguments and induce- 



154 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

meiity upon which the schemer had relied were now of no 
force, and he left the state. Two years afterward he was 
here again, but effected nothing. 

19. In 179G, James Garrard was elected governor. His 
message to the legislature that year showed that Kentucky 
was in a ilourishing condition, but that certain laws were 
defective and that it was necessary to consider and act upon 
some weighty questions in order to insure continued happiness 
and prosperity. 

20. In 1798, the people of Kentucky, in common with 
those of Virginia, were almost unanimous in their condemna- 
tion of measures enacted by Con- 
o;ress which seemed to them an in- 
fring-ement of the rights of the states 
and a violation of the spirit of our 
government, which was intended to 
guarantee to all the right of free 
thought and free speech. These were 
the famous alien and sedition laws. 
The first of these gave the i)resident 
full power to order out of the United 
States all citizens of foreign coun- 
tries, visiting here, whom he might 

CxOVERNOR JAMES GARRARD, judgc to bc uusaf c to pcacc and good 

order, under penalty, in case of re- 
turn, of being imprisoned as long as the president might 
deem it necessary to pulilic safety. This was investing the 
chief officer of the republic with the authority of a mon- 
arch. By the sedition law any citizen who might speak or 
print any falsehood, scandal or malice against the government, 
the president, or Congress, with intent to defame or excite 
the hatred of the people against any of them, was made sub- 
ject to fine and imprisonment. 

21. This extraordinary legislation was instigated by the 
conduct of citizen Genet and those who in this country favored 




KENTUCKY A STATE. 



15 5 



his schemes to involve the United States in a war with England 
for French advantage, and joined him in his abuse of the 
president and Congress because of their wise and conservative 
policy; but even the peoi)le of Kentucky, who hated the 
British power and were grateful to the French, were not pre- 
pared to indorse measures tending to a strong and somewhat 
irresponsible central power. 

22. In the Kentucky Legislature of 1798 (November 8th), 
John Breckinridge introduced resolutions denying that the 
Federal government had any power beyond that named ex- 
presslv in the words of the constitution ; that no authority 
had been given to enact the alien and 
sedition laws or similar ones ; and 
that a state was not bound to execute 
the unconstitutional and offensive 
laws of Congress. They met with 
little opposition, and were adopted 
almost unanimously. Copies were 
sent to the other states, with the re- 
quest that they indorse them and join 
in the effort to have Congress repeal 
the offensive acts. Most of the states 
sent answers strongly condemning the 
resolutions. The legislature of 1799 
slightly revised them, but the few op- 
ponents of the doctrine laid down could not command sufficient 
force to modify it in any material particular. 

23. During the last three years of the century the feelings 
of the people of Kentucky were again enlisted in behalf of 
France. The latter country, having failed to form a league 
with theUnited States against Great Britain, refused to respect 
the neutral position assumed by the president and Congress, 
and beo^an to assail American tradino; vessels and a state of war 
between the two countries actually existed on the seas. There 
was a strong party in Kentucky that boldly opposed war Avitli 




SENATOR 
JOHN BRECKINRIDGE. 



15() YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

their former iilly. Their hostility to (ire:it Britahi was still 
intense, and the failure of the Federal authorities to adjust 
the ditliculties with France aniicahly was attributed to ingrati- 
tude towards those who had helped to gain American inde- 
pendence, and to the absence of that feeling of animosity 
toward England which they themselves felt. The enactment 
of the alien and sedition laws and other unpopular legislation 
on the part of Congress had much to do in producing oppo- 
sition in Kentucky to the existing policy of the United States. 

24. In Logan county, in 171)9, began a most extraordinar}^ 
revival of religion, which spread over the entire state and 
into Tennessee and continued for many years. It was char- 
acterized by peculiar manifestations, which gave rise to 
various and not always favorable connnent ; but it had a ])ro- 
found meaning and beneticent uses. 

25. Some features of the first constitution of Kentucky 
proved unsatisfactory during a trial of five years, and in 
1707 and 1708 elections were held to take the sense of the 
people on the question of calling a convention to revise it. 
The legislature of 170S passed a law calling a convention for 
this purpose. This met July 22d, 1700, and on the 17th of 
August, the second constitution was reported, differing from 
the first in a few important particulars — to go into operation 
June 1st, ISOO. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, AND EXPLANATIONS. 

I. Col. John Hardin. — The ILirdin family has furnished 
many eminent names to the history of Kentucky, pioneer and 
state ; but to none other of them attaches such melancholy 
interest as to the good and gallant subject of this brief notice. 
He was a descendant of one of three Huguenot brothers who 
early in the eighteenth century came first to Canada, subse- 
quentl}^ to the more salubrious climate of Virginia, and whose 
posterity is now found among the ])rominent families of sev- 



KKNTITKY A STATE. l,')? 

eral states. John Hardin was ])orn in Fauquier county, Vir- 
ginia, October 1st, ITao. When he was twelve years old his 
father removed to the borders of Pennsylvania and settled on 
the ]\I()iioni>ahela — a frontier, where hunting was an occupa- 
tion, and where he became a most expert rifleman and ac(juired 
that strenirth and endurance which were characteristic of the 
most famous woodsuuMi. lie was ensign of a company in 
Dunmore's expedition, 1774; in August, 1775, he volunteered 
for service with C'ol.Zadi ?tIorgan, and in an engagement with 
Indians received a ball in his thigh, as he rested on one knee 
to deliver fire, which ranged up, lodged near the groin, and 
could never ])e extracted. Before he could dispense with 
crutches because of this wound, he joined an expedition against 
Indian towns. When the American Congress determined to 
raise a force for war M'ith Great Britain, heenffasfedin recruit- 
ing, and in the company with which he joined the Continental 
army he was second lieutenant. Subsequently he was 
attached to Gen. Daniel ]Morgan's rifle corps, and was pro- 
moted to first lieutenant. Mor<>:an held him in high esteem 
and em})loyed him in enterprises requiring judgment and cool 
but intrei)id courage. Once he was sent out with a party to 
reconnoiter, with orders to take a prisoner from whom to 
o])tain iuformation, and Avhen ahead of his detachment, and 
alone, he found himself, on reaching the summit of a hill, con- 
fronted by three British soldiers and a Mohawk Indian. 
Without hesitation he raised his rifle and ordered them to sur- 
render. The white men threw down their arms, but the Indian 
clubbed his gun, and they renuiined motionless while he 
advanced on them. None of the men having come to his assist- 
ance he turned his head slightly and called to them to come on. 
The Indian, seeing Hardin's eye Avithdrawn, instantly brought 
his rifle to bear, but Hardin caught a gleam of light from the 
})olished barrel, fired without levelling his piece, and gave him 
a mortal wound as the Indian's bullet passed through his hair. 
He marched the British soldiers to the camp of General Gates, 
who complimented him on the exploit. In 1779 he was offered 
a major's conmiission, l)ut for some reason he declined this 
and also resigned his lieutenancy; and in 1780 he was in Ken- 
tucky, locating lands on treasury warrants, for himself and 
friends. In 1786 he removed his family to what was after- 
ward Washington county. He accompanied Clark's Wabash 



LW YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

expedition, that 3'ear, as quartermaster; in 1780 he was 
appointed county lieutenant, with the rank of colonel ; made a 
successful ex})edition across tiie Ohio, with two hundred men, 
to break up })rowlino; bodies of Indians, recover stolen horses, 
and prevent the recurrence of such theft. With one exception 
he was on every expedition against the Indians from the time 
he settled in Kentucky until 1792, and failed the one time 
only because he was disabled by accidental wound. In the 
spring of 171>2 he was sent by (Teneral Wilkinson to the vil- 
lages on the Miami to propose a treaty of peace. Attended 
by an Indian interpreter, and bearing a flag of truce, he was 
within a few miles of his destination, Avhen he was overtaken 
by a few Indians who pro})osed camping with him and going 
with him next day to their chiefs. During the night they 
murdered him, in order to possess themselves, as has been 
deemed most probable, of his valuable horse and equipments. 
He has been described as a man of "unassuming manners and 
great gentleness of deportment, yet of singular inflexibility. 
For several years previous to his death he was a member of 
the Methodist Church." 

II. The First Preachers and First Churches. — Among 
the very foundation stones of the commonwealth were churches 
organized by the leading religious denominations of that day; 
and literally "the groves were God's first temples" in Ken- 
tucky. Brave and devoted ministers of the gospel came wath 
the earliest settlers and shared with them their dangers and 
privations while they conquered the wilderness. 

The Rev. John Lythe, of the Episcopal Church, (^ime in 
1774, and he has been regarded as the first preacher to cross 
the mountains. He was one of the Harrodstown delegates to 
the Transylvania convention, and performed divine service 
Avhen that body met to organize (May 23rd, 1775). On the 
28th, according to Henderson's journal, "divine service for 
the first time in Kentucky was performed by the Rev. John 
Lythe," in the open air, under the great elm atBoonesborough. 
The service of the 23rd, it is inferred, was simply one of 
prayer. An Episcopal church was formed in Lexington in 
1794, but there was no organized parish till 1809. 

The first Baptist ministers were the Rev. Peter Tinsley and 
the Rev. Wm. Hickman, and in May, 1776, Tinsley preached 
the first Baptist sermon, in the shade of a great elm at the 



KENTUCKY A STATE. 159 

big spring, now in the corporate limits of Harrodsburgh. He 
was ininiediatoly followed bv Ilicknuin ; and the latter is 
regarded as in fact the tirst Baptist iniiiister in the state, as he 
remained several months, engaged in his calling, and in 17<S4 
took up his jjermanent resick'nce here and spent his life in the 
service, while of Tinsley nothing more is recorded. The first 
organized Baptist church was that of the Eev\ Lewis Craig, at 
Craig's Station, on Gilbert's creek, in (larrard county, a few 
miles east of Lancaster. This church was organized in Spott- 
sjlvania county, Virginia, and the mend)ers travelled together 
to Kentucky — a church on the road, regularly constituted for 
business as well as Avorship. The first one organized in Ken- 
tucky (1788) was on South Elkhorn, five miles south of 
Lexington. 

The Rev. David Rice was the first Presbyterian minister to 
come to Kentuck3^ He came m 1783; and the first congre- 
gations he orijanized were at Danville, Cane Run, and the 
forks of Dick's river. The Transylvania ])resbytery held its 
first meeting at Danville, October 17th, 178(5. 

The first Methodist-Episcopal church was organized in the 
cabin of Thomas Stevenson, between two and three miles 
southwest from Washington, Mason county, by the Rev. 
Benjamin Ogden, in 178G. He and the Rev. James Haw 
were the first preachers. 

The first Roman Catholics came in 1775, and by 1787 there 
were about fifty Catholic families, chiefly in Marion and 
Nelson counties, and their first clergyman was the Rev. 
Father Whelau, who stayed three years. The Rev. Father 
Stephen Theodore Badin then came, and entered permanently 
upon a widely extended and arduous work. 

These may be regarded as essentially the pioneer churches, 
under charge of capable, pious, and brave men, who Avere 
every Avay equal to the demands of the times. The move- 
ment that resulted in establishment of the Church of the Dis- 
ciples, or Christian Church, began in Kentucky as early as 
1801, but no distinctive churches were organized for some 
years after Elders Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, 
and Barton W. Stone began the discussions which brought 
about a separation from the Presbyterian and the Baptist 
churches. 

The formal separation of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
Church from the older body did not take place till February 



KK) 



YOTTNG TEOPLK S HISTORY OF KENTUrKY 



4th, IHIO, when the Independent Presbytery was organized 

l)y the Revs. Samuel McAdoo, Finis Ewing, and Samuel King. 

Besides those ministers of the gospel mentioned above as 

being the founders of the earliest churches, Kentucky has had 




PETER CARTWRIGHT. 



many subsequently who have been famous as pioneer evange- 
lists, pulpit orators, and of such marked originality and 
force of character as to leave their impress upon society not 
only in their own state but in the whole western and southern 
country. Among these mav be mentioned the Rev. Andrew 



J. KENTUCKY A STATE. 1(>1 

Tribblo, of the Baptist Church, the Rev. Charles Nerinckx 
and Bishop Martin John Spalding, of the Catholic; Church, 
the Rev. Francis Clark, the founder of Methodism in Ken- 
tucky, and Bishop II. II. Kavanauoh of that church, whose 
fame was co-extensive with the Union, the Rev. Robert J. 
Breckinridge, of tiie Presbyterian Church, the Rev. Thomas P. 
Dudley, of the Particular Baptist Church, Elder John Smith, 
of the Christian Church, the Rev. Henry B. Bascom, of the 
Methodist Church, and the Rev. Peter Cartwright, also a 
Methodist, a Logan county man, who boldly carried the gospel 
to the remotest settlements, maintained himself by sheer force 
of indomital)le courage and physical prowess among the most 
desperate classes of society, and established churches and 
Sunday-schools in fields where even law officers found it 
impossible to execute their functions. 

III. A Flcet-Footed Woman. — Among the earliest settlers 
in Whitley county were Joseph Johnson and his father, who 
built their houses about one hundred and tifty yards apart, on 
Lynn Camp creek. One evening just before dark three 
Cherokees entered the hous6 of Joseph Johnson when he was 
alone and killed him with their tomahawks and knives. His 
wife was out milking the cows and knew nothing of the 
murder of her husband until she returned to the door. See- 
ing him down and the savages still striking him with their 
weapons, she dropped her milk, and fled towards her father- 
in-law's house. One of the Indians, who had sprung towards 
her with his tomahawk when she reached her own door, pur- 
sued; but she was young and active and kept ahead. Reach- 
ing the 3^ard-fence of the elder Johnson she cleared it with a 
bound. The savage was near enough to aim an unsuccessful 
blow at her head; but seeing that she had escaped him he 
yelled with rage and disappointment and disappeared. 

IV. Story of a Lincoln Connty Family. — A year or two 
after the close of the revolutionary war, a Mr. Woods w^as 
living near Crab Orchard, with his wife, one daughter (said 
to have been ten years old), and a lame negro man. Early 
one morning, her husband being away from home, Mrs. 
Woods, when a short distance from the house, discovered 
seven or eight Indians in ambush. She ran back into the 
house, so closely pursued that ])efore she could fasten the 
door one of the savages forced his way in. The negro instantly 

H 



1G2 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

seized him and in the scuffle the Indian threw him, falling; on 
toj). The negro held him in a .strono; irrasj) and caUed to the 
girl to take an ax which was in the room and kill him. This 
she did by two well-aimed blows; and the negro then asked 
Mrs. Woods to let in another, that he with the ax might dis- 
])atch him as he came, and so, one by one, kill them all. By 
this time, however, some men from the station near by, hav- 
ing discovered that the house Avas attacked, had come up and 
opened fire on the savages, by which one was killed and the 
others put to iiight. 

V. Gron. Peter Muhlenberg. — Muhlenberg was at no time 
a resident of Kentuck}' ; but his name and his deeds are of 
interest to us because some of the gallant members of his 
church Avho followed him when he left his pulpit to fight for 
independence had grants of land for military service, which 
they located on and below Green river, soon after the close of 
the revolution, and made their homes in Avhat are now JNIulil- 
enberg, McLean, and Ohio counties. One of them, the lion. 
Henry Ehoads, was a member of the legislature in 1708, 
when INIuhlenberg county was established, and procured it to 
be named in honor of his ])astor and general. When the war 
began the Rev. Peter Muhlenberg, then a young man, was 
pastor of a German Lutheran church at Woodstock, \^irginia, 
though he was a native of Pennsylvania. In 1776 he was 
authorized to raise a regiment among the Germans of the 
Shenandoah valley, and was commissioned colonel. Having 
enlisted his command (the 8th Virginia, called also the "Ger- 
man regiment"), he entered the pulpit with his sword and 
cockade and preached his farewell sermon. On the day fol- 
lowing he set out with his men to join the arm3\ In 1777 he 
was connnissioned bria:adier-o;enera]. After the war he was 
for several years state treasurer of Pennsylvania, and served 
three terms in Congress. Through the influence of one to 
whom he had been a pastor in peace and a valiant captain 
in the fight for freedom his ever-enduring monument (a 
county's name) was erected, not in his own land, but in the 
wilderness of Kentucky. 

VI. Pioneer Women. — Among all the sufferers at the 
hands of the Indians, none bore heavier sorroAvs and received 
less credit for them than the pioneer women. * * 
Who has ever heard of the many brave ones who resisted 



KENTUCKY A STATE. 1H3 

or succumbed to the tomahawk and the scalping-knife? 
While their husbands fired from the loo[)-holes of the forts 
upon the besietring enenn', their wives moulded the bullets 
Avith whieh the guns were loaded. They guarded the forts 
while the men were fighting the Indians elsewhere or hunting 
the game. When death took a pioneer from his toils, it was 
the women who wraj)j)ed him in his coarse shroud and laid 
him in his rough coffin and wetted his obscure grave with 
their tears. They were the doctors of the times; and while 
th(Mr remedies for wounds and diseases seem stranjje to 
modern science, they were thought to work wonderful cures 
in their day. From their home in the old settlement they 
brought religious feelings, and when the itinerant preacher 
turned the hour-glass for the second or third time and still 
went on, they never grew weary of him but heard the words 
of the good man to the end, and remembered them. Col- 
lectively and individually they showed a courage on trying 
occasions of which men might well be proud. — lieiihen T. 
Durrett. 

VII. Elector of Senate. — This term, so fre(|uently used in 
speaking of men wh(^ held public position in the early 3'ears 
of the state, needs to be explained. It was a peculiar provision 
of the first constitution. This divided the legislature into 
the two usual branches, a Senate and House of Representa- 
tives. Representation was to be in proportion to the number 
of inhabitants in a county, instead of one member from each 
county or lejrislative district, so that in the letrislature Avhich 
assembled June 4th, 17i)2, Fayette, having the greatest i)opu- 
lation, had nine members, Avhile Mason, which had least pop- 
ulation, had only two. These representatives w^ere to be 
elected annually by the free white vote. Senators (one for 
each county and two extra ones for the state at large) were 
chosen by electors. The first electors were chosen at the 
same time as the representatives, and in equal number, to 
serve four years. They were to constitute a college for the 
choice of one senator for each county and two extra ones for 
the state at large, and also to elect a governor, whose term 
was likewise four years. The first General Assembly con- 
sisted of forty in the house, with nine regular and two extra 
in the senate. The second constitution dispensed with this 
college of electors, and provided for the election of governor 
and senators by direct vote of the people. 



KU YOUNG PKOI'I.k's HI8TORY OF KENTUCKY. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE BANK OF KENTUCKY. THE BURR CONSPIRACY. KENTUCKY 

IN THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE, ETC. 
l.SOO-lSll. 

1. The new conistitution did not render a governor ineligible 
for ii succeeding term, and in 1800 James Garrard was again 
elected. 

2. The legislature of ISO] -2 passed an act to winch it 
is worth while to call your attention, even in this brief 
account of the rise and progress of the commonwealth, since 
it gave the people their first ex})erience in banking — an expe- 
rience which afterward resulted in monetary derangement and 
general distress. Their troulile with Continental money (paper 
currency, which became so worthless before the close of the 
revolution that it required a thousand dollars to get one of 
silver or gold) had led them to distrust bank notes, and the 
greater part of them were strongly prejudiced against them. 
A company at Lexington was chartered to insure the produce 
of the state on its passage to market, and authorized to take 
and give bills, which would pass by indorsement, and these 
were essentially bank bills, though this feature of the act 
seems to have been misunderstood at the time. In 1807 the 
company was regularly chartered as the Bank of Kentucky. 

3. The most exciting event during Garrard's second term 
was the suspension (1802) of the right of deposit at New 
Orleans, noticed in ])rcceding chapter as having been granted 
by Spain in 1795. It had been continued for seven years, and 
there was a further provision in the treaty that if this should 
be withheld, another place, somewhere near the mouth of the 
Mississippi, should be granted. This was now refused by the 
Spanish governor, in arl)itrary violation of the treaty, and the 
whole western country was serit)usly affected; Kentucky was 



THK lU'RR CONSPIRACY. 105 

deprived of :i profitable market for her i)r()(luec, and again 
aronsed on the oft-recurring (piestion of being allowed the 
unrestricted use of the great river. 

4. In October, 1800, Spain had ceded to France the 
Louisiana territory, west of the river but was still allowed tt) 
control navigation as far as her own ports were concerned. 
In the spring of l-SOo, however, the United States purchased 
Louisiana from the French emperor, and soon organized that 
part of it embracing the present state of Louisiana. The pos- 
session of the Mississi])pi was now no longer in dispute. The 
temjiorar}^ inconvenience and injury to Kentucky was removed 
and the excitement subsided. 

5. During the administration of Gov. Christopher Greenup 
(1<S04— 1808), events of startling interest occurred — one of 
which, the Burr conspiracy, may be noticed somewhat in 
detail. 

G. During the year 1805 Aaron Burr came to Kentucky for 
the first time, in the prosecution of his celebrated scheme to 
set up an empire in the west and southwest. His einister 
efforts to involve Kentuckians in his conspiracy, and possibly 
to detach the state from the Federal Union, connected him for 
a brief period with our history. 

7. During this first visit he was at Lexington and Louis- 
ville; went thence to Nashville, St. Louis, Natchez, and New 
Orleans ; then came back to Lexington where he spent some time. 
There was no special development this year; but in 1806 he 
reappeared in Kentucky and Tennessee, and matters assumed 
such shape that the United States attorney for the district 
of Kentucky, Col. Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, whose suspicions 
had been aroused and who had been watching and making 
quiet investigation, appeared before the District Court at 
Fraidvfort (November 3rd, 1800), and moved for a process 
to c<)m[)el Burr to attend and answer a charge of high misde- 
meanor in organizing within the territory and jurisdiction of 
the L^nited States a military expedition against a friendly 



16() 



YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



power. The motion was based iqx)!! a sworn statement by 
Colonel Daveiss, accurately setting forth the preparations 
beino; made by the accused, and alleging what afterward 
proved to be correct as to Burr's design. 

8. There was a great sensation. Daveiss was admired for 
his splendid powers, his integrity, and his patriotism; but 
Burr had made himself popular in Kentucky, and the affidavit 
was so startling that the presiding judge took time to consider. 
Two days afterward he overruled the motion. Meanwhile 
Burr had come from Lexington, and now appeared on his own 
motion before the court and in a captivating speech still 

further prepossessed the auditors in 
his favor. ITe asked the judge to re- 
consider and entertain the motion at 
once. 

9. Accordingly a day was fixed for 
the investigation. When the case was 
called, Daveiss found that an import- 
ant witness was absent and asked a 
postponement, whereupon the grand- 
jury was instantly discharged; but 
Burr insisted upon giving his accuser 
one more opportunity to prove his 
charges. This beino; granted and De- 
cember 2nd fixed as the time, the case 
came up, but now another important witness was gone. The 
day was spent mainly in a spirited contest between the prose- 
cutor and one of Burr's counsel, Henry Clay, over questions 
of law and procedure ; on the next day the grand jury began 
the examination of witnesses ; and two days afterward they 
not only reported "not a true bill," but sent in a written 
declaration, signed by the whole panel, which completely 
exonerated Burr. 

lO. The a])le, vigilant, patriotic attorney was beaten. The 
majority of the people were infatuated in favor of the unprin- 




COL. JOSEPH 
HAMILTON I>AVEISS. 



TlIK BURR CONSPIRACY. 1(57 

cipled adventurer; and they now regarded the efforts of Col- 
onel Davei.ss us having been prompted by political animosity, 
which had led him to persecute an innocent man. Burr's 
ac(|uittal was celebrated at Frankfort, December 2()th, by a 
brilliant l)all. One was given in honor of the baffled prose- 
cutor, by friends who believed that he was right; but the auda- 
cious conspirator seemed to be triumphant. Daveiss had not 
long to wait, however, for his vindication. Almost imme- 
diately after the congratulatory ball was over, a proclamation 
reached Frankfort denouncing Burr's enterprise and warning 
the Avest against it. A law had already been passed by the 
Ohio Legislature under which ten boats, loaded with supplies 
for an expedition southward, had been seized. The Kentucky 
Legislature immediately passed a similar act to seize boats 
which had eluded the Ohio authorities and were then descend- 
ing the river. Burr had left Kentucky and was on his way 
south. 

11. His amazing mendacity can be gathered from this 
smple recital : He had engaged two eminent and honorable 
gentlemen, Henry Clay and John Allen, to defend him. Before 
undertaking the case Mr. Clay required of him an explicit 
disavowal, upon his honor, of any sinister design. On the 
1st of December, a week after the president had issued his 
proclamation, he declared in a carefully-worded, comprehen- 
sive, and apparently earnest statement, that he was not and 
had not been engaged in any enterprise inimical to the peace 
and digniiy of the United States or in violation of the laws. 
At the very time he was in court, an armed force in his 
service occupied Blannerhassett's Island in the Ohio, and 
boat-loads of munitions of war were starting down the river. 
More than four months previous he had written to some of 
his adherents and verbally unfolded to others the main feat- 
ures of his ))reliminary plan, and indicated the preparations 
alreat]\- made. 



168 YOUNG TEOPLe's history of KENTUCKY. 

12. If his entire scheuie Aviis clearly defined in his own 
mind, he was crafty enough to withhold from his trusted 
adherents its full scope, or else some who were involved were 
))etter informed than has ever been made to appear. It seems 
to have contemplated taking from Spain some portions of her 
possessions on the Gulf of Mexico and also the southwestern 
l)art of the United States, embracing New Orleans, in the 
recently purchased territory of Louisiana. It is probable 
that, in case of succeeding in this, he meant to detach from 
the United States the whole country west of the Alleghanies. 

13. One feature of his enterprise with which the history of 
Kentucky has to do, in addition to the failure of Daveiss' 
efforts to bring him to justice, is the fact that some of her 
citizens, men prominent in arms and in her civil councils, were 
sufficiently identified with him to bring them under the sus- 
picion of having been fully committed to his scheme and in 
active co-operation with hini. In a work of this scope all 
recorded facts cannot be o^iven in detail and evidence weio^hed. 
Without this, there is danger of doing injustice to the memory 
of honorable and useful men by merely naming them in this 
connection. You should study this remarkable episode, how- 
ever, in more elaborate works. In doing so you should note 
in the outset the great probability that in dealing with Ken- 
tuckians Burr used the plausible argument that he was planning 
an expedition to seize Spanish provinces onh', and that such 
a scheme was not inconsistent with the interests of the United 
States. It may be presumed that to the less informed and 
more impetuous and warlike spirits he represented that as 
Spain was known to be unfriendly because of the transfer of 
Louisiana, the Federal government would even countenance 
an enterprise designed to punish her by seizing her American 
territory. It was known that in the spring of 1<S0(), S}ianish 
troops, with apparently hostile purpose, had advanced to the 
Sabine river, the southwestern boundary of the United States, 



THE BURR CONSPIRACY. 109 

and that General ^^'ilkinson, eoninianding our forces in that 
quarter, had orders to prevent their crossing. 

14. While it is known that some ]n*oniinent Kentuckians 
favored Burr's proposed exi)editi()U against Spanish })rovinoes, 
it is not established that they were comniitted to a conspiracy 
to separate Kentuckv from the Atlantic states. When he was 
unmasked, a reaction set in and the late favorite was bitterly 
denounced. In the excitement some leading; men were charged 
with guilty complicity with him and with Spanish intriguers 
before he came, and their fair fame was temporarily obscured; 
but investigation failed to displace them in the esteem and confi- 
dence of their fellow-citizens or to terminate their usefulness. 

!.">. In one instance, however, criminalit}' Avas proved, and 
a })ublic man, hitherto high in the confidence of the people, 
was disgraced. Benjamin Sebastian had been for many years 
on of the judges of the Court of Appeals. He had been 
known to hold communication with the Spanish agent. Power, 
in 17i>5 and 1797; and in the agitation consequent upon the 
trial of Burr and the disclosure of his schemes, Sebastian was 
cliarged with complicity in the hitter. He resigned his office 
to prevent action by the legislature; but the matter was 
pressed to investigation, and though nothing appeared as to 
his connection with Burr, it was proved that for about ten 
years he had received from the Spanish government an annual 
pension of two thousand dollars. In(|uiries into the conduct 
of accused persons and the conviction of this one were the 
last acts in the S})anish consi)iracy. 

lO. During the administration of Gov. Charles Scott ( 1808- 
1812), General Harrison, the governor and military com- 
mandant of the Northwest Territory, with headquarters at 
Vincennes, made a campaign against Indian tribes under the 
Prophet, a brother to the Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, which 
resulted in the ])attle of Tippecanoe, November 7th, 1811. 
Numerous dei)redati(nis had been committed during the year, 
on the frontier settlers in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, and 



170 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



it had Ixu'ii found impossible to bring them to terms. The 
presicknit of the United Stafes sent to General Harrison a regi- 
ment of regulars and direeted him to increase the force by 
militia, and take measures for the defense of the citizens. 

17. When it was known that he was authorized to march 
against the warriors assembled on the upper waters of the 

Wabash, a number of Kentuckians 
volunteered their services and joined 
the expedition. Among them were 
Joseph Hamilton Daveiss, Gen. Sam- 
uel Wells, Colonel Keiger, and Col. 
Abraham Owen. Keiger had raised 
a company of young men around 
Louisville, among whom were several 
who were afterward distinguished 
officers in the United States army — 
Croghan, Chum, Edwards, Meade, 
Fallon, Sanders, and Shipp. In the 
battle of Tippecanoe were about sixty 
Kentuckians, who fought heroically and effectively. The vic- 
tory was decisive, but among the killed were two gallant sol- 
diers and honored citizens whom Kentucky could ill spare — 
Daveiss and Owen. 




SENATOR GEO. M. BIBB. 



oJ«<c 



PERSONAL SKETCHES, ETC. 

I. Gen. Charles Scott. — Of the life and character of this 
noble old soldier, pioneer citizen, and statesman, nothing more 
need be said than is found in Col. (afterward Major-General) 
Thomas L. Crittenden's address on the occasion of the re inter- 
ment, November 8th, 1854 : "A hundred years ago these poor 
remains were clothed with the manly form of Corporal Charles 
Scott, and the soldier's heart, that ever stirred in his bosom, 
was stirred by the clang of arms and the terrible battle-cry. 
In 1775, side by side with Washington, he fought in that dis- 



TIIK BURR CONSPIRACY. 



171 



astrous battle which resulted in Braddock's defeat and death. 
* * * * When the ^reat struggle of the revolution 
])egan, he took at once, and manfully, as he did everything, 
the side of justice and freedom. He raised the tirst company 
south of James river that entered into actual service. He so 
distinguished himself that a county in Virginia was named 
for him as early as 1777. Soon after this — to put the very 
stamp and seal of genuine patriotism and all soldierlv qualities 
upon him — Washington himself appointed him to the com- 
mand of a regiment in the Continental line. Very soon we 
tind him a brigadier-general at the battles of Monmouth and 
Charleston. * * * * Just here and there, in times when 
none but men are wanted, and at places 
where none but men are found, you 
will see his name. Starting as he did 
under the eye of Washington, and 
from the ranks, it is clear that his 
rai)id and distinguished promotion was 
the result of g-ood conduct and true 
merit. After almost thirty 3^ears of 
tiffhtino:, from the betjinning of the 
French and Indian wars to the close 
of our M'onderful revolution. General 
Scott removed to Kentucky (1785), 
and settled in AVoodford county. The 
Indians continued their deiiredations, 

] .1 , 1 ]• 11.+-,. GENERAL AND GOVERNOR 

and the veteran soldier could not re- charles scott. 

pose even upon all his laurels while the 

women and children of his adopted state were exposed to mur- 
derous and merciless savages. In 1701 he was with General St. 
Clair at what has been Avell called a second Braddock's defeat. 
In 17S)3, seconded by General Wilkinson, he commanded a corps 
of horsemen in a successful expedition against the Indian towns 
on the Wabash. In 1794 he conmianded a portion of Wayne's 
army at the battle of Fallen Timber, where the most effective 
and brilliant victory was gained. And now, after almost forty 
years of warfare, the peaceful life of General Scott may be said 
to begin. * * * * He thought but little of himself . No 
intrigue or art was ever used by him to exalt himself in the 
public estimation. He felt the impulse and he played his part. 
In 1808, when most of his life was spent, and arduous services 




172 YOUNG PEOrLP^'s IirSTORV OF KENTUCKY. 

had wasted the strength and vii>()r of his manly form, thongh 
his intelleet was still uniin])aired, he stood before the highest 
tribunal of the state — the whole sovereign people; and the}^ 
})ronounced him their chief man. No eloquence, no flattering 
tongue, besought their support. The old soldier, with mod- 
esty unfeigned and real as his merit, thought the ofiice of 
governor too high for his ability, and too great a reward for 
his services. In the honesty of his soul, he bluntly told the 
people, in the brief speeches he made to them, that his com- 
petitor Avas far better qualified for the position than he, but 
that if they should be foolish enough to elect him, he would 
do his best for them. He was almost unanimously elected; 
and the same singleness of purpose, the same fidelity to his 
country, which had marked his military conduct, distinguished 
his administration. He was governor when the war of 1812 
was declared, and one of his lastoflicial acts was to commission 
William Henry Harrison as major-general and so give him 
command of Kentucky troops. * * * * L^i us remem- 
ber that Scott was a chief, even among the wondrous men of 
the revolution — and that these men purchased all our blessings 
by the hardships they endured, the bravery with which they 
encountered every danger, and by the blood they spilt. No 
living man can rightly claim so much gratitude from his 
countrymen, on the score of hard and perilous services ren- 
dered, as General and Governor Charles Scott." 

II. Squire Boone. — In the history of Kentucky this man 
has been awarded an inferior place, as compared with his 
brother, with Clark, Kenton, Harrod, Logan, and others; but 
in some respects he deserves to be ranked among the noblest 
of our pioneers. He was not self-assertive and desirous of 
prominence, but was content to do faithfully and courageously 
whatever he found it necessary to do ; and such men seldom 
tind their names blazoned among those whose fortune it is to 
be recognized as leaders. A study of his conduct leads us to 
conclude that he was a brave and indomital)le tighter and at 
the same time gentle and affectionate. While his feelings 
and convictions marked him as a strong character, he was 
simple-hearted, trustful, and religious. He preached occa- 
sionally ; and it appears that he had not only the confidence 
of his fellow-pioneers, but some gift of speech, as he was 
made one of the delegates to represent Boonesborough at the 



THK BURR CONSPIRACY. 1<0 

convention of May 23d, 1775, and after Kentucky was ortran- 
ized as a county of Virginia, he was elected a representative to 
the Viri*'inia Lcijislature. It is by no means certain that his 
first visit to Kentucky (which determined his future) Avas not 
rather owing to affection for his long-ab.sent brother and 
sympathy with that brother's family than to any selfish or 
roving disposition. He was wounded in the shoulder during 
the siege of Boonesborough; in defense of his settlement, 
Painted Stone, he was shot in the breast and one arm ; 
and while moving his people temporarily to the Beargrass, 
17.SI, lie was again shot. After Kentucky became a state 
and courts of law were established, he, like his noble com- 
rades, Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton, was deprived of all 
his real estate through mere legal technicalities. At one 
time he was even arrested for debts which he could not pay, 
and escaped a debtor's ]>rison only through the interference 
of generous friends. In ISOG he left the state which for 
more than thirty-five years he had served so well, and located 
with his family and five great-nephews at what was after- 
ward known as Boone's settlement, in what is now Harrison 
county, Indiana, about twenty-five miles northwest of Louis- 
ville: and in 1815, aged about seventy-eight years, he died at 
this new home. He Avas buried, as he had requested, in a 
cave, on an eminence that commanded aAvide and picturesque 
view. 

III. Edmund Rogers. — This was one of the earliest and 
most distinguished of the ])ioneers Avho passed beyond Mul- 
draugh's Hill and made settlements southAvard and Avestward 
of Green river — a man of mind, a man of character, Avho left 
his iin])ress upon the times and upon the subsequent dAvellers 
in that region. He Avas born in Caroline county, Virginia, 
May 5th, 1702; Avas of gentle blood, of considerable scholas- 
tic attainments, and before seeking the AA'ilderness in search of 
a neAV home had done a patriot's part in the Avar of independ- 
ence. When eighteen years of age he Avas serving in his 
native state; fought at Green Springs and Jamestown, and 
AViJS at the siege of Yorktown Avhere the British power Avas 
finally broken. Under the acts of Congress he Av-as entitled to 
a pension but refused to apply for it. In 1783 he came to Ken- 
tucky, and during that fnll began surveying the lands in 
Indiana, opposite Louisville, AAdiich Virginia had granted to the 



174 YOUNd people's history of KENTUCKY. 

conqueror of the Northwest Territory, his cousin, Gen. George 
Rogers Chirk, and his sohhers — the hinds then known as the 
IHinois grant. In llS-t he went south of the Green river and 
that year and subsequently made most of the surveys on Big 
and Little Barren rivers. He settled upon a tract of land on 
which he afterward (1800) laid out the town of Edmunton. 
In 1<S08 he married Miss INIary Shirley, and to them were born 
seven daughters and ti son, John T. Ko"ers. AVhile rearintj 
and educating these he extended a like servi(;e to an orphaned 
nephew, Joseph Rogers Underwood, afterward an eminent 
jurist and statesman. He was ;i pure, U})right, generous- 
hearted man, a true friend to the worthy, and hc]})ful in time 
of need, but openly intolerant of injustice, under whatever 
guise. He died in his eighty-second year, August 28th, 1843, 
and was buried near Edmunton, beside his Avife, whose death 
occurred eight 3'ears before. 

IV. Aaron Burr. — Of this man who projected himself into 
the affairs of Kentucky WMth evil design and is known chiefly 
because of his "bad eminence," but little need be said to give 
the reader additional view of him than that which is afforded 
by the preceding account of his schemes. 

He was Vice-President of the United States durina^ Jeffer- 
son's first term (1801-05), and he had been ambitious of first 
place; was at variance with the president and other leading 
men of the party to which he owed his elevation ; had been 
defeated as independent candidate for governor of New York, 
in opposition to the regular nominee ; charged his defeat to the 
active influence of Alexander Hamilton, with whom he pro- 
voked a duel in which he killed that illustrious statesman. 
Ambitious of })ower and being now odious in the Atlantic 
states he turned his attention to the west. He was a man of 
extraordinary accomplishments and of fascinating manners, 
and for a time wielded an influence in the west which was \)Qv- 
nicious, and, to one family at least, destructive. Harman 
Blennerhassett, a wealthy Irish gentleman, who lived in ele- 
gant retirement, with an accomplished and beautiful wife, on 
an island in the Ohio river, below the mouth of the Muskin- 
gum, he involved in his conspiracy and ruined. His intro- 
duction into the home of this happy but too credulous couple 
has fitly l)een com})ared to the entrance of Satan into Paradise. 
He seems to have modelled his character on Lord Chesterfield, 



THE iujRR conspiracy. 175 

whoso life and wiitinij:s had i)rodiiced at least one erop of 
polished British scoundrels and extended their baleful intlu- 
enec in some deirree to America. There are evidences Marrant- 
iuij the conclusion that his nuich-talked-of boldness of desitrn 
was not based upon a conciousness of power to ])lan and exe- 
cute a ^reat movement, but upon a settled belief that lying, 
accomjianied by a ca|)(ivating demeanor, ^vas a fine art, by the 
cunning exercise of which he coultl hoodwiidv authorities and 
mould the western ])ioneers to his will. A graphic Kentucky 
historian, Shaler, aptly describes one of his prominent char- 
acteristics when he says of him "he was a measureless liar." 

In Fc))ruarv, ]'S07, he Avas arrested in Alabama, and was 
tried in Eichmond, \'irginia, on a charge of treason. The ver- 
dict was, "Not guilty, for want of sufficient proof." Under an 
assumed name he fled from the country, but a few years after- 
ward he came back to New York and resumed the })ractice of 
law. II(> died in extreme old age, alone, and in abject poverty. 

V. Geu. Thomas Fletcher. — When Kenton was on the 
streets of Frankfort in 1824, having arrived on horseback 
from his Ohio home, not knowing that he had an acquaintance 
in town and being in need of a friend, Fletcher chanced to 
meet and recognize him. lle(|uickly ceased to be the ap])ar- 
ently obscure and neglected stranger. The general, who had 
known him while both w ere serving with Governor Shelby in 
Harrison's army ( I8I0) had him fitted out with a becoming suit 
of clothes and introduced him to his friends. The people 
testified to his worth by flocking eagerly to see him, and make 
him welcome, so that ho was the hero of the time. General 
Fletcher, a citizen of Bath county, was himself a man of 
mark — an officer of Kentucky troops during the northwestern 
campaigns, and afterward serving as a member of Congress and 
frecjucntly representing his ])eo})le in the General Assembly. 
His father served with LaFayette in the revolutionary army, 
and was wounded in a sally from Fort Erie when that place 
was besieged. His negro servant was awarded his freedom 
for running to him when he fell in the fight and carr3ing him 
back into the fort. Gen. Thomas Fletcher visited Europe 
several times and was the guest of his father's distinguished 
comrade, the noble LaFayette. His mother Avas the youngest 
sister of the great artist Benjamin West. In addition to his 
own earninirs, Fletcher had a large bequest of lands from a 



17(> 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



friend, the Hon. John Fowler, who for ten years (1797-1807) 
represonted a Kentucky district in Congress; and a magniii- 
cent brick residence which he erected near Sharpsburgh is 
still standing. 

VI. The Treatment of the Boones and Simon Kenton. — 
It has been the fashion with writers and speakers not only to 




KENTON AND FLETCHEU. 



inveigh against the manner in which these men were dei^rived 
of their lands and so harassed by suits for the recovery of 
debts that they sought in other states the peace and security 
denied them in their own, but to make the impression that it 
has left a stigma upon the State of Kentucky. This is unjust 
and unwarranted. That they were deprived of their posses- 



TIIK IJUIlIi CONSriKACY. 177 

sions through mere forms of hnv is imlisputable; but hiw is 
tliP safeguard of property, and "svherc its forms are disre- 
garded hy those who set up ownership, it is unreasonable to 
suppose that a sense of justice will restrain the cui)iditY of 
individuals or invoke the corporate power of the state to pro- 
tect them, however meritorious they may be because of self- 
sacriticing public service. In every community may be found 
"the desj^erate, hardened, wicked few who have no check but 
human hiw," and the brave and generous old pioneers but 
suffered the inevitable consequences of their own ignorance of 
the waAS of a self-seeking world, and their hick of worldly 
wisdom M'ould have appealed to noble hearts to spare them ; 
l)ut rajitu'ious land-grabbers were insensible to merit and 
incapable of appreciating the claims of those who had given 
their lives, as it were, to make possible the peaceable posses- 
sion of a magnificent territory, where milUons might now find 
homes without robbing; their benefactors. But to cry shame 
on the state because of the conduct of a few is to stigmatize a 
great people for having numbered among them certain con- 
scienceless scoundrels who robbed under cover of law but in 
defiance of right. Untaught, simple-minded, trusting as he 
was, the nobility of soul that dwelt in Kenton shone out in 
the sulisequent occasional manifestations of feeling which are 
recorded of him. He seemed to apprehend, with some clear- 
ness, that the great wrong which had been done him w^as in 
some sort his own fault, and to refrain from whining. Collins 
savs of him: "He never repined; and such was his exalted 
})atri<)tism that he Avould not suffer others to upbraid his 
country in his presence without expressing a degree of anger 
Avhich was altogether foreign to his usual mild and amiable 
manner." And when, an old man, he came from his home in 
Ohio to Frankfort, and was treated by the legislature and the 
citizens with that marked respect which was yet far below his 
dues, he felt that he had been so honored and rewarded that 
"it was the proudest day of his life." 

VII. Cut 3Ioiicy. — Before Kentucky attained to statehood, 
and for a long time afterward, but little coin was in use, and 
exchange of commodities was effected b}^ barter. When mer- 
chantable products increased to such an extent as to furnish 
a surplus for keel-boat shipment to the cities on the lower 

12 



178 



YOUN(5 people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



Mississippi, the Spanish silver doUar was received in payment 
^nd ecam; current coin. Small change was supplied by cut- 
W the dollar into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths 
This "cut money" was used in Kentucky as a medium of 
exchange long after small silver currency began to be sup- 
plied by the United States mints. 




KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1812. 179 



CHAPTER XI. 

KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1X12. 

1. British insults and aggressions on the seas were the 
leading cause of a second war with that great power. To 
these were added the injuries inflicted on settlers in the 
northwest by Indians, who Avere incited to their invasions, 
robberies, and outrages by British colonists in Canada, along 
our north and northeastern frontier, and by the English 
officers in charge of their garrisons there. 

2. Nearly thirty 3'ears had now elapsed since the termina- 
tion of the war of independence ; and during all that period 
Americans had been made to feel that the English govern- 
ment was at least unfriendly, if not desirous of provoking a 
Avar with the young republic. This had been steadily growing 
in importance in the matter of trade with foreign nations by 
sea. France and England were natural rivals, and for years 
they had been at Avar. A brief explanation will enable you 
to understand hoAV this circumstance gaA'e American trading 
vessels great advantage and yet subjected them to propor- 
tionately great danger: France and England had each 
declared the ports of the other in a state of blockade; that is, 
each stationed men-of-war in the neighborhood of the other's 
])orts, to seize the vessels of nations not at Avar Avith either if 
thcA^ should attempt to enter these ports for trading purposes. 

3. As French and English merchant ships Avere the hiAvful 
prey of the respective powers, under the rules of Avar, Avhile 
those sailing under the American flag Avere exempt from 
molestation except in case of entering the blockaded ports, it 
is easy to see that American commerce thrived. Before the 
beginning of 'the war of 1812, the United States had groAvn 
to be the grestest commercial power in the Avorld except 
England. 



180 You^'a peoi'le's history of Kentucky. 

4. On the English theory that ''once a Briton always a 
Briton," the P^nglish liovernnient had for many years author- 
ized her armed vessels to search American ships and take 
therefrom all who were suspected of being British subjects. 
All who were thus seized were impressed into the English 
navy, without incjuiry as to their eitizenship. Among these 
were many who were either native-born or naturalized Ameri- 
cans. Remonstrances on the part of the United States, 
d(nnands for reparation, all efforts to bring al)out amicable 
adjustment, were either disregarded or insolently s})urned. 
The conduct of the British government was not onl}^ in viola- 
tion of the law of nations and unjust, l)ut was arrogant and 
insulting, Notwithstanding the blockade, however, Ameri- 
cans persisted in trying to carry on trade with the French 
people, for whom they felt a strong sympathy and attachment ; 
and about a thousand American vessels were seized by British 
ships of war, and American seamen were impressed into the 
Eno;lish naval service. 

5. At length, hcnvever, when appeals for justice and remon- 
strance against open violation of her rights seemed to have no 
effect but to encourage arrogance, the United States declared 
war. The president's proclamation was issued June 20th, 
1<S12. We come now to notice brieily Kentucky's })art in this 
conflict. 

6. Among Kentuckians the sentiment in favor of war had 
for some 3^cars been almost unanimous, and the feelmg was 
more intense here than elsewhere. The bitter animosities 
of the revolution had been kept alive, as previously indicated, 
by the conduct of British officers on the Canadian border in 
secretly bribing the Indians to continue their depredations 
on the western settlers. 

7. When the president called for a hundred thousand mili- 
tia, Kentucky's quota was fixed at fifty-five hundred. Seven 
thousand volunteers quickly offered their services, and these 
were organized into ten regiments. Fifteen hundred men 



KKXTUCKV IN THE WAR OF 1.S12. 



IS I 



were to be sent at once to Ae aid of General Hull at Detroit. 
Tlu' voluuteering for this special service was so enthusiastic that 
when the brigade was organized it consisted of two thousand 
men. The four regiments of which it was composed were com- 
manded by Colonels Allen, Lewis, Scott, and Wells, under 
Brig. -Gen. John Payne. Gen. William Hull, the governor of 
Michigan Territory, with a force of fifteen hundred men 
(regulars and volunteers), had been ordered to overawe the 
savages on the northwestern frontier, and authorized, if it 
should be found })racticable, to invade Canada; but when the 
Kentuckians crossed the Ohio on their march for Detroit, they 
learned that after some fruitless 
movements Hull had shamefully 
surrendered his army to a British 
force of little more than half his 
own, and with it the whole of Mich- 
igan territory. This excited furious 
indignation throughout the state, 
and a call made by Governor Shelby 
for fifteen hundred men to march 
against Indian villages in Illinois 
was prom})tly answered by more 
than two thousand volunteers, who 
assembled at Louisville and nuirched 
into the Indian country ; but from lack of efficiency in the 
supply department and other unfavorable circumstances this 
expedition proved a failure. 

8. The })e()ple of Kentucky now had nuich apprehension 
that the British army, with their nuirderous red allies, would 
l)ush on to the Ohio river; and their sterling old governor, 
Scott, knowing that several weeks would elapse before help 
could be expected from the action of the war office at Wash- 
ington, made prompt provision for preventing this calamity. 
He commissioned AVilliam II. Harrison, then a citizen of Ohio, 
and goyernor of Indiana territory, a major-yeneral of Ken- 




GENERAL JAMES TAYLOK. 



182 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

tuck}^, and put him in command o:Ptroops to move on Detroit. 
With Kentucky and Ohio troops, Harrison was in a short time 
marching northward as rapidly as possible and was soon upon 
the waters of the great lakes. The Indians were driven back 
upon the British lines. Meantime the president had made 
Harrison a major-general in the regular army and given him 
connnand of the northwest. 

9. Fort Wayne, on the Maumee river, occupied by a small 
garrison, had been invested by a large body of Indians. He 
advanced to the relief of this ; but the savages fled at his 
approach. All their towns and crops that were in reach were 
destroyed. Two detachments of Kentucky troops were now 
sent on special service, which was promptly and efficiently 
executed. General Payne destroyed the towns and crops of 
the Miamis on the Wabash and Colonel Wells those of the 
Potawatamies on the Elkhart. A number of minor engage- 
ments occurred during the autumn, but nothing decisive was 
accomplished before heavy rains set in and made the whole 
region so swampy and muddy that it was exceedingly difficult 
for the army to move; and it was not until January, 1813, 
that any important action took place. 

10. General Winchester, now in command of the north- 
west (though but temporarily, as General Harrison was soon 
restored), had reached the Maumee Rapids with fifteen hun- 
dred troops, and General Harrison was at Fort Sandusky with 
twenty-five hundred. About a thousand British and Indians 
were fortified at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, about forty 
miles from the Rapids, and Colonel Lewis was sent with from 
seven hundred to one thousand Kentuckians, mostly of Allen's 
regiment, to dislodge them. With Lewis were Colonel Allen, 
Major Graves, and Major Madison. On the 18th of January 
the command reached Frenchtown, made a vigorous and suc- 
cessful attack, and before nightfall drove the enemy a consid- 
able distance. Taking possession of the fort. Colonel Lewis 
reported his success to General Winchester, who at once set 



KENTUCKY TX THE WAR OF 1812. 183 

out with two hundred and fifty regulars under Colonel Mills 
to re-enforce the Kentuckians. Arrivinof on the afternoon of 
the 21st, the regulars went into camp on open ground some 
distance from the stockade. A camp-guard Avas posted, but 
the ordinary precaution of picketing the roads by out-guards 
was neglected by the ofiicors in charge. On the morning of 
the 22nd, two thousand British regulars and Indians suddenly 
assailed the fortifications. The Kentucky riflemen easily 
drove them back, inflicting great loss; but they rallied, and 
part of the force, with small arms and a six-gun battery 
attacked the fort, while the greater part fell upon Mills in his 
exposed position and put the regulars to route. 

11. At this point the gallant and generous heart of Ken- 
tucky manifested itself conspicuously. Colonel Allen and 
Colonel Lewis with some of their subalterns and men rushed 
out of the stockade to save the hard-pressed regulars from 
destruction, by enabling them to take shelter in the fortifica- 
tions. Striving to restore order and fighting heroically 
Colonel Allen was killed and Colonel Lewis captured. The 
effort failed to save any of the regulars from butchery ; and 
of the Kentuckians who had sallied out, ofiicers and men, not 
one returned. 

12. Majors Madison and Graves had remained in command 
of those in the enclosure, and they kept the enemy at bay for 
several hours. When their ammunition was nearly exhausted, 
the British general summoned them to surrender. On being 
promised honorable terms and protection from the savages, 
they became prisoners of war. All who were unhurt were 
marched to Maiden. The wounded were left at Frenchtown 
without a guard. Next mornino- a number of drunken Indians 
entered the town and murdered the helpless captives. Among 
those who were toinahawked were three brave ofiicers, Maj. 
Benjamin Graves, Capt. Paschal Hickman, and Capt. Nathaniel 
G. T. Hart. Two houses were set on fire and the wounded 
officers and men with which they were crowded perished in the 



184 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



flames. "The massacre of the Raisin" sent a thrill of horror 
throughout the country, and aroused burning indignation and 
a feeling of fierce revenge in Kentuck}^ 

13. General Shelby, now governor for the second time, 
was authorized by the legislature to take the field in person. 
A call for volunteers to re-enforce Harrison and avenge the 
death of their countrymen was promptly responded to. Four 
regiments, under Col. Ambrose Dudley, Col. Wm. E. Boswell, 
Colonel Cox, and Colonel Caldwell, were brigaded under Gen. 
Green Clay. Part of this re-enforcement reached Harrison 
April 12th, the remainder reached Fort Defiance on the river 

above, about the 1st of May. The 
winter had been employed in building 
Fort Meigs at the mouth of the Mau- 
mee. Before the last detachment of 
Kentuckians had reached the fort, it 
was strongly besieged by British and 
Indians, and under fire of cannon, to 
Avhich the Americans had so little 
ammunition with which to reply, that 
they gathered and used the balls that 
came from the British batteries. 

14. General Harrison had infor- 
mation that on the 5th of May, 
the Kentuckians, coming down the river from Fort De- 
fiance, would reach Fort Meigs, and sent orders to General 
Clay to land eight hundred of his men on the northern^ shore 
and take the British batteries, disable the guns, and then 
regain their boats and cross to the fort. The order was not 
full>^ understood, and the result was another massacre. The 
detachment under command of Colonel Dudley, took the bat- 
teries in the rear and carried them, but, in the excitement and 
eagerness of the fight, pursued the fleeing enemy instead of 
returning to the river. When they had gone beyond the sup- 
port of the remainder of Clay's troops, Indians crossing from 




GENERAL GREEN CLAY. 



KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1812. 



185 



the south side fell upon their rear; Proctor came up with a 
British force and incepted further advance, and less than two 
hundred of them escaped into the fort — the greater number 
of them being killed or captured. The prisoners were taken 
to an old British fort lower down the river, with but a slight 
guard, and here, as they were huddled together, the Indians 
began shooting and scal})ing them. It is to the credit of the 
great Indian chief, Tecumseh, that he galloped up and with 
furious indignation compelled his warriors to desist. 

15. About the time all this was taking place on the north 
side of the river, a sally 
was made from the stock- 
ade, and a company of 
Kentuckians made a bril- 
liant charge on a battery 
on the south side, intlict- 
ing some loss but suffer- 
ing severely. General 
Clay had some diificulty 
in reaching the stockade 
with the remainder of his 
command by landing on 
the southern shore and 
fighting his way through 
the enemy there. 

IG. "Dudley's defeat" 
was another instance of 
Kentucky dash and valor that ended disastrously, and of sav- 
age barl)arity perpetrated under the eye, if not with the ap- 
probation, of a British officer. It is an instance, too, of 
the better nature that sometimes manifested itself in an In- 
dian warrior. 

17. Proctor's force was jrreater than Harrison's, and his 
supi)ly of heavy amnumition was abundant ; but on the night 
of ]\Imv the Sth he abandoned the sicije and marched back 




TECUMSEH. 



l.Si; YOITNO TEOPLE'S HISTORY OF KIONTI'fnvY. 

towaixls Maiden. The American loss was about eight hundred 
men ; that of the British and Indians about five hundred. 

18. In July Proctor besieged Fort Meigs again, with 
nearly four thousand men. Remaining a few days Avithout 
effecting anything, he set out on his return by way of Fort 
Stephenson at Lower Sandusky. This was held by a hundred 
and sixty men under command of Col. George Croghan 
(Croan), a young Kentuckian only twenty-one years old. 
He had one cannon. Proctor summoned him to surrender, 
and threatened that in case of refusal the garrison would be 
massacred. The intrepid young officer replied that the fort 
should 1)6 held as long as there was a man in it left alive. 
Proctor cannonaded the works for some time with but little 
effect. On the 2d of August he undertook to carry the place 
by storm. Croghan heavily loaded his cannon with slugs and 
grape-shot, and masked it in a position to rake the inter- 
vening ditch from end to end. The enemy had subjected the 
little redoubt to a heavy cannonade, and as there was no reply 
by Croghan' s one gun they seemed to believe that there 
would be little resistance to direct assault. They crowded 
into the trench, and were swept away almost to a man, This 
signal repulse, and the fear that General Harrison would 
come up on his rear, led Proctor to abandon the siege. He 
had lost about one hundred and fifty men, while Croghan had 
but eight killed and wounded. 

19. In Commodore Perry's great naval fight, whi(^h drove 
the British from Lake Erie, Kentucky bore an honorable 
part. A hundred of her sharp-shooters were on board his 
ships, plying the deadly Kentuck}^ rifle. 

20. The British and Indians withdrew from Detroit into 
Canada. General Harrison followed, and soon forced Proctor 
to fight him on the banks of the Thames. The British general 
had the choice of position, and he chose a good one; but the 
Americans now had the advantage in numbers. Many of their 
Indian allies had deserted the British. Proctor had one regi- 



KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1812. 



187 



nient of British regulars and aliout fifteen hundred Indians, led 
))y the famous Tccumseh. This man was a general. He had 
})rofited by his association with the trained soldiers of Euro})e 
and by his confliicts with pioneer Americans, and he had made 
soldiers of his savages. General Harrison had more than three 
thousand men; but in battle the choice of position counts for 
nuioh, and often neutralizes the advantage of numerical odds. 

21. The battle of the Thames was, on the part of the 
Americans, substantially a Kentucky fight. In addition to the 
trooi)S previously mentioned. Col. Richard M. Johnson had 
enlisted a regiment of twelve hundred 
mounted infantry — men armed with 
rilles or muskets and trained to fight 
either on horseback or on foot. 
Aided by Col. James Johnson, his 
brother, he had brought his command 
to an excellent state of discipline be- 
fore it reached the frontier. There 
were a few regulars and Ohio volun- 
teers, but nearly the whole force was 
from Kentucky, and with them was 
their gallant old governor, Shelby. 

22. On the morning of October 
5th, 1813, General Harrison attacked 
the enemy's line. Colonel Johnson leading. The right of 
his line struck the British regidars and dashed through. 
Then wheeling about they fired into their broken ranks. 
Those who could not escape threw down their arms and 
surrendered. T'he perfidious Proctor fled on horseback and 
left his men to their fate. That part of Harrison's force 
that met the Indians encountered more resistance and were 
temporarily checked ; but the defeat of the regulars made it 
possible for the Kentuckians to envelop the Indians, and the 
latter soon found themselves exposed flank and rear, notwith- 
standing a swamp gave them nmch advantage, and they took to 




SENATOR 
RICHARD M. JOHNSON. 



188 YOUNG people's IIISTOKY OF KENTl'C'KY. 

flight. Tecuinseli was killed earl>' in the action, and about the 
same tinie Colonel Johnson was dangerously wounded. The 
victory was decisive, and the campaign closed with signal 
advantage to the American cause. 

23. Through many hardships and much suffering, at the cost 
of many of her dauntless citizen-soldiers, who fell in conflict or 
were but(^hered in cold blood, Kentuckians had regained all 
that Hull had lost, relieved Ohio from the danger of invasion, 
and contributed in a remarkable degree to driving the British 
army a second time from American soil. A few weeks after 
this JKittle the volunteers were disbanded. 

24. But Kentucky was not yet done with Indians in the 
northwest. In the summer of 1814, the Potawatann"cs on the 
shores of Lake Michigan manifested a disposition still to 
adhere to the British, and were known to be committing dep- 
redations on the American settlers along the borders. General 
McArthur was authorized (August 2nd, 1811) by the War 
Department, to raise a thousand mounted men to operate 
ag-ainst them. He called on the sjovernors of Ohio and Ken- 
tucky for five hundred each. Governor Shelby received the 
call August 20th, one month before the troops were to 
assemble at Urbana. By the 20th of September seven com- 
panies under Major Peter Dudley had reported at that place 
and were read}' for service. A counter-order to dis])and had 
not been received by Dudley, but the Ohio troops h;id gotten 
it, and when General McArthur found that existing conditions 
required him to push on, two-thirds of his little force were 
Kentuckians. He crossed into Canada; had frequent skir- 
mishes with the savages ; finally met a considerable force of 
Canadians and Indians, and routed them Avith a loss of more 
than one-third of their number (November 4th, 1814). Hav- 
ing penetrated the enemy's country more than two hundred 
miles, and rendered the American cause essential service by 
destroying the resources of the British commandant in that 
quarter and striking fear into the Indians, McArthur returned 



KENTUCKY IX THE AVAU OF l'S12. 



189 



to the border. On tlio 17th of N()veni])er the vohmtcor.s were 
lionorahly disbandccl. In the g-encnd's report they Avere com- 
ineiuU'd for the manner in which they had 8U})i)orted him. 

25. Before the war closed, however, Kentnelvy was called 
u})on for iielp in another (jiiarter. (Governor Shelby, ready in 
an}' enu>rirency to sec-ond the efforts of the general government 
in repelling an enemy from its territory, sent twenty-tivc 
hnndred men, in the antunm of 1S14, nnder General Thomas, 
to re-enforce General Jackson in the defense of New Orleans. 
In a month after the call Avas made, these troops were on their 
way down the Mississippi. "When they reported to Jackson 
they were almost entirely withont 
arms and amnnmition, having ex- 
})ected to be fnrnished from ti siq)ply 
which had ])een shipped from Pitts- 
burgh. Jackson succeeded by unre- 
mitting and immense exertions in 
arming most of his recruits, and 
Avhen the great day of the battle 
came (January 8th, 1815), most of 
the Kentucky troops were armed and 
ready for action. 

2(J. General Thomas was ill, and general and governor 
the command devolved on Gen. John 

Adair, then adjutant-general of Kentucky. One hundred 
and eighty Kentuckians were detached to re-enforce Gen- 
eral Morgan on the right bank of the Mississippi, to check 
an anticipated movement of the enemy on that side. The 
greater part occupied the center of Jackson's line on the left 
or New Orleans side, against which Packenham advanced with 
the main body of his army. Morgan was routed, his raw 
militia, poorly fortified, being unable to stand against the 
British veterans thrown against them; and, of course, the 
little Kentucky re-enforcement Avent Avith the rest, but thej^ 
Avere only about one-tenth of the Avhole force, Jackson, on 




190 YOUNG people's history op KENTUCKY. 

the New Orleans side of the river, won ji great victory, losing 
but eight men killed and thirteen Avoiinded, and inflicting a 
loss ui)on the British of seven hundred killed, fourteen 
hundred wounded, and five hundred captured; and more than 
one-fifth of the soldiers with which he did this were Kentuck- 
ians. An impartial United §tates historian says: "Every 
discharge of the Tennessee and Kentucky rifles told with 
awful effect upon the exposed veterans of England." 

27. A treaty of peace between the United States and Great 
Britain had been signed at Ghent, Belgium, fifteen days 
before this battle; but in that period of slow-going ships and 
no telegraph the news had not reached the opposing armies. 



y?^o 



PERSONAL SKETCHES, INCIDENTS, ETC. 

I. Gov. Isaac Shelby. — This is one of the noblest names on 
the roll of Kentucky pioneers. He was great as a man, as a 
soldier, and as a statesman. His i)art in the war of independ- 
ence will compare favorably with that of Greene and Morgan 
and Marion — men to whom, in connection with Washington, 
the country owes so nmch. His father, Gen. Evan Shelby, 
was a Welshman, who settled near Hagerstown, Maryland, 
where Isaac Shelby was born December 11th, 1750. He re- 
ceived a i)lain English education, embracing the art of survey- 
ing. His practical training included that of arms, as from his 
early boyhood the colonists were still annoyed by the frontier 
Indians. His ambition was not to strive for commanding 
place, but to be honorable and useful, and his usefulness 
made him one of the first men of his time. With a robust 
frame, a strong, comprehensive, and practical mind, with 
military ardor and the instinct of a strategist, he could i)lan 
movements with the genius of a born general and execute 
them with the energy, pertinacity, and indomitable courage of 
a proud soldier fighting under the inmiediate eye of a trusted 
leader. At the age of twenty-one he went to West Virginia, 
and began work as a herder of stock; when Dunmore's expe- 
dition was organized he became a lieutenant in his father's 



KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1^12. 



101 



company, in General Lewis' wing of the army; fought at 
Point Pleasant and helped to execute that flanking movement 
late in the day when the Indian left was broken ; remained 
t)n outj)i)st there till July, 177"), when the company was dis- 
banded; came then to Kentucky, suryej-ed for Henderson & 
Company, and located land; returned to Virginia in July, 
177(i, and took connnand of a company of minute men of 
which he had been aj)pointed captain; served as such and as 
commissary for various troops till 1771), during which he 
showed executive abilit}^ and a determination that overrode 
obstacles; in the spring of 1779 was elected a member of the 
A'irginia Assembly ft)r Washington county, and was soon 
afterward made a major by Governor Jefferson and com- 
manded an escort for commissioners 
to extend boundary lines between 
Virginia and North Carolina. By the 
extension of this line his home was 
found to be in the new county of Sul- 
livan, North Carolina, of which he 
was shortly afterward appointed 
colonel . In 1 780 he was again in Ken- 
tucky, locating and securing lands 
which five years before he had marked 
out and im})roved for himself. When 
news of the fall of Charleston reached 
him he hastened back to devote him- 
self to service in the army till inde- 
pendence should be established. In 
a few days he joined Colonel McDo^v- 
ell, with three hundred mounted rifles, and Avith detached 
troops, in connection with Sevier and Clark, was soon 
fighting the British and Tories at Moore's Fort, at Cedar 
Spring, and at Musgrove's Mill, capturing many prisoners. 
He was the leading spirit among the Americans in that 
prompt and well-planned movement towards the Blue Kidge 
mountains, which secured the prisoners, and then planned 
the attack on Ferguson at King's mountain. With the 
eye of a general he saw in the heat of action what Avas 
necessary, at a critical juncture, to insure victory, and did it. 
The salutary effect of this brilliant achievement on the Conti- 
nental cause was incalculable, and to Shelby, more than to any 




GENERAL AND GOVERNOR 
ISAAC SHELBY. 



102 YOUNG people's IILSTORY of KENTUCKY. 

other, was the honor due. It contributed hirgely to give heart 
and hope to the Americans who had recently been so cast 
down by the great disaster at Camden. It was his general- 
ship, also, that resulted in the battle of the Co\vj)ens and 
another patriot victory. lie continued in the field, etHciently 
engaged, till active operations were about over; then served a 
term in the North Carolina Ijcgislature ; afterward settled pre- 
emption claims and laid off lands alloted in the Territory of 
Tennessee to officers and soldiers; returned in the winter of 
17.S2-8o to Boonesborough and married Susanna, second 
daughter of Nathaniel Hart; established himself on first pre- 
emption granted in Kentucky, and began the work of clear- 
ing and tilling; but the people had need of him in public 
capacity, and he became at once prominent in their affairs — 
taking an active part in their prolonged struggle for separation 
and statehood. The minor public positions he held need not 
be enumerated. As Kentucky's first chief magistrate he was 
sagacious, prudent, and a thorough patriot. He rendered valu- 
able assistance to General Wayne in his operations in 1794 — 
his energy and influence contributing materiall}^ to the effi- 
ciency of the Kentucky volunteers. At the expiration of his 
first term he retired to his Lincoln county farm ; but he was not 
allowed to pass the remainder of his life in repose. When 
the country Avas involved in another war with England (l>il2) 
he was again chosen governor, and Avith characteristic energy 
and good judgment seconded the general government in all 
needful ways. After the disaster of the Raisin, as has been 
noticed elsewhere, he took the field in person and bore a gal- 
lant })art in the operations which terminated with the battle 
of the Thames. In 1.S17, President Madison appointed him 
Secretary of AVar, but he declined to accept, and spent his 
few remaining years a ])rivate citizen, dying in his seventy- 
sixth year, July" 1 St h, 1X20. 

II. Logan, the Indian Chief. — In 1786, Gen. Benj. Logan 
captured a young Shawnee-Mingo chief, a nephew of Tecuni- 
seh's, whom he kept with him for some years. Before he was 
allowed to return to his people his captor had named him 
James Logan, Isut he is usually referred to simply as Logan, 
or Logan, the Indian Chief. He was evidently a man of 
native ability and possessed of a high sense of soldierly honor. 
General McAfee says of him that he was "of a bold and gen- 



KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1812. 193 

erous spirit. His features were formed on the best model, 
and exhibited the strongest marks of courage, intelligence, 
and ,sincerit3\ Before the treaty of Greenville he had dis- 
tinguished himself as a Avarrior though still very young." 

Early in the campaigns of 1812 he attached himself with a 
few of his warriors, to the Kentucky troops, and was employed 
as guide and spy, and in reconnoitering the positions of the 
enemy ; but some suspected his fidelity and reproached him 
with being friendly to the British and their savage allies. 
This was unjust, and so stung him that on his next scouting 
expedition, he and two companions rashly turned upon a 
British officer and five Ottawas who had captured them, rather 
than allow them to carry them to the British i)()st and so 
deprive him of a chance to })rove his fidelity. They killed 
four of their captors, but he received a fatal wound. He 
rode back, however, to the American camp, twenty miles, in 
five hours. McAfee says further: "He had rescued from 
oblo(|uy his character as a brave and faithful soldier ; but he 
had preserved his honor at the expense of his life. He lived 
two days in agony, which he bore with uncommon fortitude, 
and died with the utmost composure and resignation." Gen- 
eral Winchester said in a letter to the commanding general: 
"More firmness and consummate bravery have seldom ap})eared 
on the military theater." And Major Hardin "wrote to Gov- 
ernor Shelby: "Logan was buried with all the honors due to 
his rank, and with sorrow as sincerely and generally chsplayed 
as I ever witnessed." 

III. The Militia Pij?. — A comjjany of Kentucky volunteers 
that marched from Harrodsburgh to join Hai'rison for the 
campaign of 1812 saw, when a mile or two out of town, a 
fight between two shoats, and presently discovered that the 
victorious one was trotting along Avith them towards the seat 
of war. It kept constantly with them, halting to rest when 
they did, finding shelter at night and sleeping like a tired 
soldier, but turning out promptly each morning when the 
bugle sounded the reveille. It is not recorded that it answered 
to roll-call, but it is to its credit that no mention is made of its 
having been reported "sick and unable for duty." AVhen the 
men reached the Ohio river, the pig either disliked the ferry- 
boat on which they embarked or was apprehensive of being 
left, and so plunged into the water and swam over — waiting 
33 



1J)4 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

Oil tlic other side until the march was resumed. It kept up 
with the troops until they reached Lake Erie, petted by the 
men and receiving a full share of the rations issued to them; 
and though often destitute of sutiicient food they seemed 
ncyer to think of killing their faithful four-legged comrade. 
In 1818, when the army was to cross into Canada, the pig 
embarked, and Avent as far as Bass Island. General McAfee 
says: "She was there offered a ])assage .into Canada, but 
obstinately refused to embark a second time. Some of the 
men attributed her conduct to constitutional scruples." [This 
was said in derision of some Pennsylvanians, who refused to 
invade Canada because they had constitutional scruples.] 
"The Kentuckians observed that she knew it was contrary to 
the constitution to force a militia pig over the line. They 
therefore gave her leave to stay." When the campaign was 
over, the Kentuckians recrossed the lake, to the American side, 
where some had left their horses. When the line of march 
was formed, there, to their astonishment, was the pig ready 
to accompany them. Wintry weather had set in and the 
march homeward was so hard on her that by the time the 
troops reached Maysville, where they recrossed the Oliio, she 
gave out, but Governor Shelby took her in hand and had her 
brought on to Frankfort. At his home she received the con- 
sideration due to a faithful soldier, broken down in the 
service of his country, and }iassed the remainder of her days in 
peace and plenty. General McAfee says that on the cam- 
paign, "The soldiers called her the governor's pig, and were 
careful to protect her, as they deemed her conduct an auspi- 
cious omen." 

IV. Scene at the Raisin Eight Months After the Mas- 
sacre. — When Colonel Johnson reached the Eaisin river 
(September 2<Sth, 1<S13), on the march to join General Harri- 
son, the scene presented by the battle-Held of the preceding 
January is thus described by General McAfee: "The bones 
of the massacred Kentuckians were scattered over the plains 
for three miles on this side of the river. The detachment 
which, under Colonel Johnson, had revisited the place in 
June, had collected and buried a great many of them ; but 
they had been torn up and scattered over the fields again. 
The sight had a powerful effect on the feelings of the men. 
The Avounds inflicted by that barbarous transaction were a^ain 



KENTUCKY IN THE WAR OF 1X12. V.)o 

torn open. The bleaching bones appealed to heaven, and 
called on Kentucky to avenoe the outrage on humanity. We 
had heard the .scene described before; we now witnessed it in 
these impressive memorials. The feelings they excited I can- 
not describe, but I can never forget them; nor while there is 
a recording angel in heaven or a historian on earth will the 
tragedy of tlie Kaisin be suffered to sink into oblivion. Future 
generations will often ponder on this fatal field of blood; and 
the future inha])itants of Frenchtown will long })oint out to 
the curious traveller the garden where the intrei)id Madison 
for several hours maintained the unecjual contest against four 
to one and repulsed the bloody Proctor in every charge. 
Yonder is the wood where the gallant Allen fell ! Here the 
accom))lished Hart and Woolfolk were butchered ! There the 
brave Hickman was tomahawked and thrown into the tlames! 
That is the spot where the lofty Simpson breathed his last ! 
And, a little farther, Surgeons Montgomery, Davis and 
Mcllvain, amiable in their manners and jirofound in science, 
fell in their youth and left the sick to mourn their loss ! The 
gallant Meade fell in battle ; but his magnanimous lieutenant, 
Graves, was reserved for massacre." 

V. Kentucky Mothers. — In the old Frankfort Common- 
wealth, Orlando Brown told as follows an incident of the war of 
1812 : "Soon after the battle of the Kaisin where the captain 
of the Frankfort company (Paschal Hickman) had been bar- 
barously massacred in the officers' house after the surrender, 
Lieut. Peter Dudley returned for the purpose of raising 
another company. The preceding and recent events of the 
campaign had demonstrated to all that war was, in reality, 
a trade of blood ; and the badges of mourning worn by the 
men and women, evidenced that here its most dire calamity 
had been felt. He who would volunteer now knew that he 
had embarked on a hazardous enterprise. On the occasion 
alluded to there was a public gathering of the peo})le. The 
young lieutenant, with a drummer and a tifer, began his 
march through the crowd, })r()claiming his purpose, and 
re(|uesting all who were willing to go with him to fall into the 
ranks. In a few minutes he was at the head of a respectable 
number of 3'oung men ; and, as he marched around, others 
were continually dr()])ping in. There Avas in the crowd of 
spectators a lad of fifteen years of age; a pale stripling of a 



19(> YOUNG TKOTLe's HISTORY OF KKXTl'CKY. 

boy, the .sou of :i widow Avhosc dwclliiio^ Avas h{ird-l)y the 
parade ground. lie hx)ked ou with a Ijuruino- heart and tilled 
with the passion of i)atriotisui, until he could refrain no 
longer, and, as the volunteers passed again, he leaped into 
the ranks with the resolve to be a soldier. 'You are a brave 
boy,' exclaimed the lieutenant, 'and I will take care of you;' 
and a feeling of admiration ran through the crowd. In a 
little time the news w^as borne to the widow. It struck a 
chill to her heart, as he was her oldest son. In a few min- 
utes she came in breathless haste to my father, Avho was her 
nearest neighbor and long-tried friend. 'Mr. Bi'own,' said 
she, 'James has joined the volunteers ! The foolish boy does 
not know what he is about. I want you to make haste and 
get him out of the ranks. He is too young — he is weak and 
sickly. Mr. Brown, he will die on the march. If he does 
not, he will be killed by the enemy, for he is too small to 
take care of himself. If he escapes the enemy he will die of 
fever. O, my friend, go and take him away!' After a few 
minutes she began again : 'I don't know what has got into 
the boy — I can't conceive why he wants to go to the army — 
he can do nothing, he is not able to do anything.' Again 
she i)aused, and at last, rising from her seat, with her eyes 
flashing fire, she exclaimed — 'But I should despise him if he 
didn't want to go !' That noble thought changed the current 
of her reflections and of her grief — she went home, prepared 
for him the })lain luiiforni of that day, and sent him forth with 
a mother's blessing. He went on with the troops ; bore all the 
trials of the march; was in the battle of Fort Meigs, and 
fought as bravely and etficiently as the boldest man in the 
com})any. The widow's son came home safe. Her })atriotisni 
was not unrewarded. Yesterday I saw the son bending over 
the sick bed of the aged mother. He is her only surviving 
child, and has been spared as the prop and stay of her 
declining years. Is it any wonder that Kentuckians are brave 
and chivalric? Were they otherwise they Avould 1)0 recreant 
to the land of their birth and a reproach to their mothers." 

"VI. General Harrison's Confidence in Kentucky Troops. 

— General McAfee, s):)eaking of crossing Lake Erie into Brit- 
ish territory, preceding the battle of the Thames, gives an 
interesting account of Kentucky spirit and of General Harri- 
son's reliance on our volunteers: "The preparations for the 



KENTUCKY IN TIIK WAK OF 1812. ll»7 

expedition ])cing nearly completed, it became necessaiy to 
detail a guard of one out of every twenty men, for the })rotec- 
tion of the horses which were to be left behind. In furnish- 
ing the men, many of the colonels had to resort to a draft, as 
vohmteers to stay on this side of the hike could not be 
o])tained. The Kentuc^kians had no constitutional scruples 
al)out crossing the boundary line; and no greater insult could 
be offered to one of Shelby's men than to insinuate that he did 
not desire to cross into Canada. This, however, was not the 
case with all the militia. When the order for embarking; was 
issued, the gentlemen of the Pennsylvania regimei^ from 
Erie were unfortunately seized with constitutional scruples. 
Harrison addressed them personally, and requested the officers 
for the honor of their state to })revailon their men to embark. 
After making an attempt to persuade them, one of the cap- 
tains returned to Harrison and said, in a pusillanimous tone: 
'I believe the boys are not willing to go. General.' Harrison 
eyed him with contempt and replied: 'The hoys, eh! I 
believe some of the officers, too, are not Avilling to go. Thank 
God, I have Kentuckians enough to go without you !' " 

VII. Tlie IiKliaiis Dreaded Kentuckians. — Elias Darnell, 
in his Journal of the Campaign of 1812-13, tells the following 
as illustrative of how Kentuckians were regarded by the 
Indians: "A Frenchman who lived in this village (French- 
town), said that when word came that the Americans were in 
sight, an old Indian was smoking at his tireside. He exclaimed : 
'Ho! de ']Mericans come; I suppose Ohio men come; we give 
'em another chase,' — (alluding to the time they chased Gen- 
eral Tupper from the Rapids). He walked to the door 
smoking, apparently unconcerned, and looked at us till we 
formed line of battle and rushed on them with a mighty shout. 
Then he called out with an oath, 'Kentuck!' and picking up 
his gun ran to the woods like a wild beast." 

VIII. Some of the Kentuckians Who Fought With Perry. 
— In 18G8 six of the men of Captain Stockton's and Captain 
Payne's companies who so promptly volunteered to go on 
board one of Commodore Perry's ships and act as sharp- 
shooters during the engagement on Lake Erie, September 
13th, 1813, were still living. They were James Artus, John 
Tucker, John Korris, Dr. A\'illiani T. Taliafero, Ezra Young- 
love, and Samuel Hatfield. The Kentucky Legislature (Feb- 



198 



YOUNG PEOl'LE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



ruiiiy 17tli, 18G0) directed the governor to procure a gold 
medal for each of the first four named. March i)th, i860, 
another name had been furnished and a medal was ordered that 




day f or Younglove ; and in 1868, still another having i been 
found one was ordered for Hatfield. In the war excitement 
of 1860-61, the matter was overlooked, but in January', 1867, 
the medals for the first four were delivered, and subsequently 
the othex's, 



THE JACKSON PURCHASE. 



IDD 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE JACKSON PURCHASE. FINANCIAL CONDITIONS IX KEN- 
TUCKY. OLD COURT AND NEW COURT. 

181G-1844. 

1. In 1810, George Madison was elected governor, but he 
died in a few weeks after his inauguration. The hiw was 
found to be silent, or of uncertain construction, as to whether 
the lieutenant-governor should succeed him or the leo-islature 
order a new election. The question 
was discussed with much warmth, and 
finally decided in favor of succession 
by the lieutenant-governor, and, a 
week after Governor Madison's death, 
Gabriel Slaughter became governor 
(October 21st, 1<S1()). 

2. In his message to the legisla- 
ture Governor Slaughter recommended 'I 
that steps should be taken in co- 
operation with the Federal govern- 
ment to obtain clear title to that part 
of Kentucky lying west of the Ten- senatoiTisham talbott. 
nessee river. The Chickasaw Indi- 
ans owned the territory in Kentucky and Tennessee which 
lay between the Tennessee and the Mississippi, having never 
entered into any treaty to relinquish their claims. October 
19th, 181S, the United States bought from them all the ter- 
ritory; and the part that fell to Kentucky (Ballard, Callo- 
wa3% Fulton, Graves, Hickman, McCracken, and jMarshall 
counties), is still known as The Purchase, or Jackson's Pur- 
chase. Governor Shelby and Andrew Jackson were the com- 
missioners who neo-otiated with the Indians and sisjned the 
treaty on behalf of the United Slates, and through popular 




200 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

misapprehension Jackson's name came to he associated with 
it, to the exclusion of Shelby's. 

3. Though for awhile after the close of the war of 1812, 
Kentucky was singularly prosperous, a serious financial dis- 
turbance had its beginning in the action of the legislature of 
1817-18, and soon grew to ruinous proportions. 

4. It is impossible to give you here more than a mere out- 
hne view of the monetary troubles which disturbed the people 
of Kentucky during this period. These were by no means 
confined at first to our own state, but prevailed in all civilized 
countries. In 1817-18 the policy of free banking was adopted, 
and proved disastrous. For more than seven years there was 
monetary confusion, and embarrassment of all trade relations; 
and for much of the time unusual part}^ strife and great 
excitement. 

5. The legislature of 1801-02, as you have previously noted, 
chartered a Lexington insurance company with banking privi- 
leges, and this latter feature Avas more definitely confirmed in 
1807 by the charter of the Bank of Kentucky, with a capital 
of $1,000,000. 

6. At the time previously referred to (1817-18), forty-six 
separate banks were chartered, having a capital of $8,720,000. 
They were authorized to issue notes redeemable in the notes 
of the Bank of Kentucky instead of gold and silver. In a few 
months the state was flooded with the notes of these banks ; a 
spirit of speculation sprang up; and men engaged in wild and 
impracticable enterprises. Great loans were made on insuf- 
ficient or worthless security, so that in many instances, wdien 
confidence was lost and creditors wished to recover their own, 
they found it impossible to enforce their claims. It was not 
long before the Bank of Kentucky, w^hich up to 1818 had 
been strong and of good credit, w^as forced by unusual calls 
for specie from the United States Bank and from individual 
depositors, to suspend the payment of gold and silver, and 
most of the free banks were (juickly wrecked. The pressure 



THE JACKSON PURCHASE. 201 

of debt ])ooaine so irreat that the next legi.shiture ( 181'.)-20) 
passed an act to })revent for('il)le collection for twelve months. 
Next came a cry for some other measure of relief, and the 
election of 1820 for governor and members of the General 
Assembly was decided in favor of the candidates who pledged 
themselves to obtain this legislation. 

7. "When the legislature met (1820-21), it chartered a state 
bank, called the Bank of the Commonwealth, with a capital 
stock of $2,000,000. Gold and silver as a basis for the issue 
of notes could not be obtained, and certain state lands, west 
of the Tennessee river, were pledged for the payment of the 
notes of this bank. These notes were made receivable for 
debts and taxes. The individual creditor had the choice of 
taking them when offered in payment of his debt or of being 
j)re vented for two years from enforcing his claims by legal 
process. 

8. Another radical step was taken by this legislature. 
The charter of the Bank of Kentuck}'^ gave the General 
Assembly power to elect a sufficient number of its directors 
to control the action of the board; and this was now done. 
The new members were pledged to receive the notes of the 
Bank of the Commonwealth in payment of debts due the Bank 
of Kentucky. This at once lessened the value of the stock 
of this bank to half its face value, and made it impossible for 
it to resume specie payments while such laws were in force. 

9. "When cases were brought before two of the circuit 
courts of the state, the judges decided that the legislative acts 
which interfered with the prompt collection of debts or pro- 
A'ided for the payment of de])ts in any way contrary to con- 
tract were unconstitutional and of no force. There was then 
an a})peal to the Court of Appeals, and in the autumn of 
1828 that body sustained the lower courts. The Avide-spread 
financial distress, which had brought about the ruin of many 
estates, great and small, rendered the people unreasonable to 
the verge of madness. Instead of accepting the decision of 



202 



YOUNG PEOPLE*S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



candidate for 



this highest legal tribunal in the state, composed as it was of 
learned and in('orrui)til)le judges, thej cried out against it and 
demanded the removal of men who had chosen to give a true 
construction of law instead of a popular opinion. 

10. The people were now divided into two parties, known 
as the Relief and the Anti-Relief. Each contained some of 
the leading public men of the day. Profound lawyers and 
able statesmen were found arra3'ed against each other, and 
the strife was bitter. In 1824, the Relief party elected its 
governor and a majority of the General 
Assembly. This body repealed the 
law under which the Court of Ap- 
peals had been organized, and then 
passed an act providing for a new 
court, to consist of four members, 
who were appointed by the governor. 
The old court refused to be thus leg- 
[j islated out of office, and continued to 
act. Cases were appealed to both the 
old court and the new, and of course 
there was confusion in the legal ma- 
chinery of the state. The excitement 
was even intensified for some time; 
but before the election of 1825 a more reasonable state of 
mind prevailed, and the Old Court or Anti-Relief party elected 
a majority of the low^er house of the legislature ; but as the 
senate still continued to have a majority of Relief members, 
the act which had created the new court remained unrepealed. 
In 182G, however, the Old Court party triumphed, and the 
legislature of 1826-27 reinstated the three old judges. All 
the decisions of the new court were afterward treated as of 
no effect. The excitement gradually subsided, a better 
state of feeling prevailed, and business affairs at length 
came into a more natural and healthful condition. 




SENATOR WM. T. BARHY. 



TIIK .TACKSOX PURCHASE. 



203 




11. In the year 1824, (Jeneial LaFayette, the French noble- 
man who had early espoused the cause of the colonists in their 
struggle for liberty, had rendered them material assistance, 
and shed his blood in their l)attle8 — 
the friend and confidant of Washing- 
ton, and beloved of America — came 
to the United States and made a jour- 
ney through the country. On the 
17th of November, while he was yet 
in the eastern states, the legislature 
and governor, in the name of the 
people, sent him an invitation to visit 
Kentucky. This he accepted and was 
treated by Kcntuckians with a warm- 
hearted, enthusiastic consideration 
never before or since accorded to a governor joseph i>i.sHA. 
foreigner. 

12. The great question of internal improvements began to 
be much agitated throughout the Union during the year 1817. 

During the tirst thirty years after 
Kentucky became a state, laws were 
enacted for making ordinary roads 
and keeping them in repair; but in 
his message to the legislature of 
1826-27, Governor Desha urged the 
importance of providing for certain 
turnpikes ; and on the 22nd of Janu- 
ary, 1827, the Maysville and Lexing- 
ton Tui'npike Company Avas incorpo- 
rated. After some delay, caused in 
part by the expectation of national aid, 
which was not realized, the work was 
begun and carried on by private 
enterprise and some appropriation from the state treas- 
ury. During the next fifteen years, besides private sub- 
scription, the state expended about $7, 000, 000 in making 




GOVERNOR AM> .^KVATOll 
THOMAS METCALFE. 



204 



YOUNG I'EOrLK S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 




OOVERNOK JAMES CLAUK. 



those roads, building locks and dams and olhcrwiso ini- 
[)roving the rivers for navigation, and in l)uilding (1S31- 
35 ) the Louisville and Lexington railroad. The state had un- 
dertaken on her own credit a vast sys- 
tem of other public improvements, be- 
sides aiding to construct turnpikes. At 
present there are in the state more than 
3,000 miles of railroad (main track), 
and at least 7,r)00- miles of turnpike 
and gravel roads — these roads afford- 
ing easy and expeditious means for 
transporting by wagon the various agri- 
cultural products to commercial and 
trade centers and to points along the 
railroad and river routes for sale or 
shipment. 

13. In 1837 the United States experienced another most 
serious financial panic. In Kentucky the embarrassment was 
great, and it affected all classes of 
people. Business was paralyzed, and 
thousands were rendered bankrupt. 
At first a prudent course was adopted, 
and the wild schemes and undue ex- 
citement of the previous crisis (181S- 
27) were not renewed. 

14. The banks suspended specie 
payment, and the legislature met and 
legalized their action, so that their 
charters were not forfeited; and 
these (of which two more had been 
chartered in 1833 and 1834) re- 
frained from pressing their cred- 
itors, but conducted their affairs with such judgment that in 
the latter part of 1838, they were able to resume specie pay- 
ment; confidence was restored, and business revived. In 




GOVERNOR 
HOBT, P. LETCHER. 



TIIK .lAC'KSON PURCHASE. 



205 



iibout a xe'M\ however, specie pajnieiit was again suspended. 
The scheme of internal improvements in which the state was 
enffao^ed had to be abandoned for the time. The direct tax 
had to be douliled to enable Kentucky to meet debts already 
contracted ; and in 1841-42, the distress was so great and so 
general that the old cry for relief hy legislation was raised, 
and entered into the elections of 1842 ; buttlje legislature, wisely 
refraining from dangerous experi- 
ments, provided for giving debtors 
a little more time in which to meet 
their obligations, and a better state of 
feelino; soon obtained. During the 
years 184o-44 the state gradually 
came back to a settled condition, and 
entered upon a safe course, that 
brought renewed prosperity, w^hich 
had no material interruption formally 
}ears. 

15. At the presidential election 
1844, the great issue was the annex- 
ation of Texas to the United States 
let us notice the attitude of Kentucky in this matter and 
during the war which resulted from the policy of which 
the people declared themselves in favor by the election of Mr. 
Polk, over Kentucky's great citizen and statesman, Henry 
Clay, who was the candidate of the A\^hig party. 




!>ENATOR HENRY CLAY. 



In the ensuing chapter 



TEKSONAL SKETCHES, ETC. 

I. Gen. Simon Kenton. — This man's life, like that of 
Boone's, is so intimately associated with the first half century 
of Kentucky's history that to know the latter is in a measure 
to know Kenton ; but in a succinct sketch may be supplied 
those ])articulars which are necessary to a clearer view of the 
incUvidual num. 



206 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

Born ill FaiKiuier county, Virghm, April loth, IT;")-'), he 
grew to l)c ;i stiilwart youth of sixteen, Avitli searcely any edu- 
cation and httle of noteworthy incident, when he resented the 
h)ss of his sweetheart by going uninvited to her Avedding and 
making himself so disagreeable that the groom and his 
l)rothers beat him severely. Meeting his successful rival alone~ 
shortly afterward he provoked a fight, at the conclusion of 
which he thought he had killed his adversary, which so 
alarmed him that he ran away to hide himself in the wilder- 
ness west of the mountains, and in Ai)ril, 1771, reached Cheat 
river, where he changed his name to Butler and engaged him- 
self to labor. Having earned enough to buy a rifle and 
accoutrements, ho went to Fort Pitt and was employed to 
hunt for the garrison. In the autumn of 1771 he made his 
tirst visit to Kentucky — coming down the Ohio as far as the 
mouth of the Kentucky. He and his companions, Yager and 
Strader, soon went back to the mouth of the Big Kanawha 
and established a camp (winter of 1771-72), where they 
remained, hunting and tra|)ping in the vicinity till March, 
1773, when Indians fired upon them at night and killed Yager. 
Kenton and Strader fled without guns and almost without 
clothing, and travelled for six days, hungry, cold, foot-sore 
and torn by briers, when they reached the Ohio and found a 
party of hunters who fed and clothed them. Going with this 
party up to the mouth of the Little Kanawha he again went to 
work to pay for a rifle and some other articles, and during the 
summer he accompanied a party down the Ohio in search of 
Captain Bullitt. Failing to find him, they returned through 
Kentucky to Virginia, Kenton acting as a guide. During tiie 
Avinter of 1778-74 he and others hunted on the Big 8andy 
river; in the spring "of 1774 he volunteered in Dunmore's 
army, and was engaged as a scout and spy during the expedi- 
tion of Dunmore and Lewis. When discharged in the autumn 
he returned with one Williams to his hunting ground on the 
Big Sandy, where they spent the winter. In the spring of 
1775, they came down to the mouth of Cabin creek and 
thence into the country, and in May encamped within a mile 
of the present site of Washington, Mason count}-, Avliere they 
cleared about an acre of ground and planted it with corn 
which they bought from a French trader. This Avas the first 
crop planted by white men in Kentucky north of the Kentucky 



THE JACKSON PURCHASE. 201 

river, and though he left the phice in the fall, after Hendricks 
\vas captured and killed, as noticed elsewhere, he returned 
after nine years of huntinj^', explorins^, scouting, fighting, etc., 
and erected a block-house, thus establishing Kenton's Station. 
He assisted in building a block-house on the present site of 
Ma^'sville ( 17.S4). Ilis services in behtdf of the settlers were 
too constant and vari(>d to be given in detail. At Ilinkston's, 
at McClelland's, at Harrodstown, at Boonesborough, on the 
expeditions of Clark and Boone — wherever a man wasre(]uircd 
for special duty, wherever danger was to be encountered — he 
was in demand and always quick to respond. He was captured 
in September, 1778, near the mouth of J^agle creek, a few 
miles below Maysville, while trying to make his way from 
Old Chillicothe, whither he and two companions had rashly 
ventured, and was kept a prisoner for more than eight months, 
during which he was subject to fiendish cruelties and several 
t i mcs narrowly escaped death . They beat him almost to the limit 
of endurance; "he was eight times compelled to run the 
gauntlet, three times tied to the stake, once brought to the 
brink of the grave by a blow from an ax." Simon Girty once 
interposed to save him from being burned ; why he was spared 
on another occasion is not stated; but the third time the 
Shawnee-]\Iingo chief, Logan, interfered and induced a Ca- 
nadian trader, Druyer, to buy him. This man turned him 
over to tlie British at Detroit, from whom he finally escaped, 
in company with eTohn Cofer and Nathaniel Bullock, through 
the good otfices of a Mrs. Harvey, the wife of an Indian trader ; 
and after travelling thirty-three days, suffering almost incredi- 
ble hardships, reached Louisville in July, 1775). 

In 17S2, he learned that the man whom he thought he had 
]>eaten to death in Virginia was still alive, and he resumed his 
rightful name, Kenton. 

After nearly two years more of various adventures and 
decided usefulness, he went back (1784) to see his father's 
family and his old friends, and late in the autumn set out to 
bring the family to a new settlement which he had made on 
Salt river. His father died on the way, but the rest arrived 
safe during the winter of 1783-84. In July, 1784, he went 
back to his old station in Mason county, w^hich was his home 
henceforth until misfortune drove him from the country. 



2()'S YOUNG PKOPLK S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY'. 

He had noAV acquired some kind of title to many valuable 
tracts of land, in different localities, and in 1786 he sold or 
o-ave away one thousand acres, on which the present town of 
Washington was laid out. As early as 17S*), however, there 
were suits against his Bourbon county lands for debt; after 
ward, under the debtor's law then in force, he Avas impris- 
oned by civil authorities on the very spot where in 1775 he 
had made the initial clearing in north Kentucky and planted 
corn; and by 1779 nearly all his possessions had been wrested 
from him by lawsuits. After twenty-eight years of daiiger, suf- 
fering, and incalculable service to the new state, he left it in 
poverty, and settled at Urbana, Ohio. Fitted by nature and 
circumstance to play a great part in the work of founding a 
commonwealth, he was a stranger to the ways of the world in 
business nuitters, and had failed to perfect titles and make to 
himself "friends of the god of Mammon," and so was set 
aside when the day of his great usefulness was over. In 1^505 
he was elected a brigadier-general of Ohio militia; in IMIO he 
became amember of the Methodist-Episcopal Church ; in 1813 
he joined the Kentucky troops under Gov. Isaac kShelby and 
fought at the battle of the Thames — a soldier and a patriot 
still. In 1820 he removed to the head of Mad river, in Logan 
county, Ohio, "in sight of Wapakoneta, where he had been 
tied to the stake by the Indians while a prisoner in their 
hands." Here, still harassed by judgments and executions 
from Kentucky, he entered lands in the name of his Avife and 
children. Some mountain tracts Avhich he yet had here were 
forfeited for taxes, and in 1824 he came to Frankfort to ask 
the legislature to release the claims on the lands. The slight 
justice which it was in the power of the state to do him was 
(juickly done; and the old hero was treated with such distin- 
guished consideration that he seemed to feel himself compen- 
sated for all the wrongs he had suffered. His friends soon 
afterAvard obtained for him by act of Congress a pension of 
$240 a year. 

At the age of eighty-one he died at his Ohio home, April 
29th, 18o(), and in another state still lie the remains of -one of 
Kentucky's n()l)lest pioneers. 

II. Gen. George Rogers Clark. — The services rendered by 
General Clark to Kentucky, to the Avest, indeed to the United 
States, have been noted. It Avould be impossible to form any 



TJIK .JACKSON PURCHASE. 



201) 



just estimate of their far-reaching and remarkable conse- 
((uonces. In speaking of the early heroes and statesmen of 
Kentucky it is idle to undertake by comparison to determine 
their relative worth. Each had his place, and when he acted 
well his part he was entitled to a niche in the temple of fame 
over which no critical tinger has written "this is more worthy 
than that." The faults and frailties of some may serve as 
solemn warnings to those who came after them, without dim- 
ming the luster of their fair deeds as crime would do. Let 
their failings and their self-imposed misfortunes "be buried 
with their bones," while their good "lives after them." 

Clark was born in Allierniarle county, Virginia, November 
19th, 1752; grew to numhood without attracting sufficient 
attention to lead the chroniclers of 
the time to say much of him or his 
family, so that Ave know little of his 
boyhood or his lineage, and little of 
his education except his showing in 
])ublic life that it had by no means 
l)een wholly neglected. He was a 
surveyor; could express himself well 
and forcibly with pen and tongue; 
and gave other evidences of having 
been subjected to some early mental 
discipline. In his twenty-second year 
he connnanded a comi)any in Dun- 
more' s cann)aign; was then offered a 
commission in the British army, which 
he declined because of unpleasant re- 
lations between England and the colonies; when little more 
than twenty-two, he came to Kentucky and so quickly 
attracted attention and inspired confidence that he was placed 
in command of the irregular militia. He was evidently 
distrustful of Henderson's pretensions; and the meeting 
at Danville (June 6th, 1775), to consider what should be 
done in view of the rival claims of Virginia and the Tran- 
sylvania Company, was at his suggestion. Having been 
chosen in connection with Gabriel John Jones to lay the mat- 
ter before the Virginia Assembly, it was due to his influence 
and diplomacy that Iventucky was soon organized as a county 
and means of defense furnished. From that time till he 
14 




GENERAL 
GEO. ROGERS CLARK. 



210 YOUNG PEOrLE's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

retired from public life (IT-SI!), he uuule his impress upon 
almost every lo;if of the history of Keutuckv and of the west. 
He attained to the rank of brigadier-oeneral of Kentucky 
troops. His plans were those of a true military genius as well 
as statesman; and his ability and energy in executing such as 
he found means to undertake showed that in a wider tield and 
with adequate resources he would haye become one of the 
great historic characters of the world. 

The expedition against the Indians on the Wabash (17S()), 
terminated his active career. He was then less than thirty- 
four years old. Having given his life thus far to his country 
he had made no provision for himself. Great land bounties 
had been voted him by the Legislature of Virginia, but they 
were inadvertently withheld and he found a home with his 
nephew, Colonel Croghan, about eight miles from Louisville. 
In 1793, when the French minister Genet undertook to raise 
troops in Kentucky for a secret expedit ion against the Spanish 
possessions on the Mississi[)pi, Clark was induced to accept a 
major-general's commission in the armies of France, and he 
prepared to enter again into active military life; but Genet 
was recalled and the plan abandoned, and he withdrew again 
from the pul^lic gaze. Some years afterward, when the Virginia 
legislature was mindful to send a delegation to present him a 
sword which had been yoted him by that body, he listened to 
the eloquent spokesman who recounted his gallant deeds and 
great services, and said to him at the close: "Young man, tell 
Virginia that when she needed a sword, I found one. Now I 
want bread!" The sword was returned, and the Virginia 
legislature proceeded to make available for him the lands 
donated to him and his soldiers ; but his life was well-nigh 
spent. He had long before fallen into intemperance; had so 
suffered with rheumatism as to lose the use of his right leg, 
Avhich was finally amjnitated; and in February, 181.S, he died 
and was buried at Locust Grove. In 18G9, by act of the 
legislature, his remains were removed to Cave Hill cemetery, 
Louisville. 

In person he was tall and imposing, being about six feet 
three inches high and of well-proportioned body and limbs. 
Of dignified demeanor, he was yet so gentle and affable that 
he made friends as readily as he commanded respect and 
inspired confidence. 



TIIK -rACKSOX PURCHASE. 211 

III. Capt. BIan<l ISullard. — In his oration on the occa- 
sion of the reinterment of Captain Ballard, November 8th, 
1H54, (ireneral Marshall described his splendid qualities in this 
strontj; iMUuuag'e: "Ilis rank ;uid title as a niililary man were 
ac(|uircd only from public contidence in his ca[)acity as a sol- 
dier; and the legislative honors bestowed u})on him by the 
county of Shelby resulted from the conviction that his advice 
in council would be as sagacious as his action in the field had 
been gallant. * * * Fortitude, valor, and patient endur- 
ance: })hysical and moral energy, quick to perceive danger 
and to a[)ply the means to avoid or overcome it ; shrewd to 
learn the necessities of a young and exposed country and to 
adopt a prompt line of action to meet every occasion; but, 
iibove all, a constant disposition to offer his life to the service 
of his country ; to present his person at the post of danger; 
to volunteer his assistance in every expedition planned to 
punish her enemies and avenge her wrongs; with a modesty 
which refused to press his name into the lists of ambition 
eager for ])referment — these were the qualities of character 
which made Bland Ballard a man of mark anions: the earlv 
settlers of Kentucky, and now entitle his name to stand 
before us as that of a re})resentative of those who are known 
to history as 'The Western Pioneers.' " 

He was ])orn near Fredericksburgh, Virginia, October 16th, 
17(il; came to Kentucky before he was eighteen years old 
(1779), in time to accompany Bowman's expedition against 
Old Chillicothe (May, 1779); joined Capt. John Holder's 
company of Madison county riflemen, June 10th, 1779; 
accompanied the expedition of Clark against the Pickaway 
towns of Ohio, and received a wound in the hip, from which 
he came near bleeding to death and from which he suffered 
through life; rendered gallant and efficient service in defense 
of Sijuire Boone's party when they were attacked while remov- 
ing to Beargrass (1781); was on the second expedition of 
Clark (1782), to destroy Pickaway towns; served Clark as 
scout and spy on the Wabash expedition (178(3), and for two 
and a half years at other times; in 1788, when his father's 
house was attacked, as noticed previously, and all the family 
exce})t himself and youngest sister were nuirdered, he killed 
four or five of the Indians while they were at their bloody 
work and drove off the remainder. This fearful tragedy made 



212 YOl'NC I'KOPLk's KISTOKY of KENTICKV. 

hiiu the fierce and unrelenting foe to the red man which he 
proved to be as long as there was an Indian to fight. In 1791 
he served as guide for (ienerals Scott and A^'ilkinson; and 
fouglit under General Wayne at the decisive; l)attle of August 
20th, 17!)4. He connnanded a coni})any in Colonel Allen's 
regiment of mounted rifles on Harrison's northwestern cam- 
paign, l.S12-lo, and was twice wounded (severely at the battle 
of the Raisin), was captured and suffered terrildy on the 
march to INIaltlcn and from there to Fort George. He had 
been captured once before, while acting as sj)y for General 
Clark, but made his escape the next day. 

His many daring deeds, his narrow escapes, his great serv- 
ices to the country, cannot be given in detail in the space 
allotted to these little sketches. Enough has been said to 
show that of the brave, intelligent, prompt and useful men of 
those trying times he was among the first. 

He served several terms as representative of Shelby county 
in the legislature, and lived to be ninety-two years old, dying 
in 18")3. By act of that body his remains and those of his 
wife were removed to Frankfort and reinterred in the State 
Cemetery, November 8th, 1854, with befitting ceremonies. 

IV. The Todds, Father and Son. — Thomas Todd, born in 
King and Queen county, Virginia, January 2ord, l7(if), came 
to Kentucky in 1784 with the family of his kinsman. Judge 
Harry Innis, and settled with them at Danville. He had 
received an unusually liberal education for that time; had 
served awhile during the latter })art of the revolution, though 
but a boy — six months with infantry and subsequently (when 
Arnold invaded Virginia) as a member of the Manchester 
cavalry troop. He began the practice of law soon after com- 
ing to Kentucky. He was clerk of all the conventions held to 
consider separation from Virginia ; was clerk of the Federal 
Court for the District of Kentucky until the state was admit- 
ted to the Union ; was elector of senate for Lincoln county, 
1792; was then appointed clerk of the Court of Appeals, and 
held this ofiice till 1801, when Governor Garrard appointed 
him to the newly created judgeship of the Court of Appeals, 
which position he retained till Judge Muter resigned (1806), 
Avhen he was appointed chief justice. When the Seventh 
United States Circuit Court was established (1806-07), and a 
new judgeship created, President Jefferson appointed him the 



THE JACKSON PURCHASE. 



213 



now member of the United States Supreme Court. He filled 
this jjosition, as he had the others, Avith signal ability and 
increasing reputation till his death, February 7th, 1826. He 
married first a Miss Harris; after her death he married th6 
widow of jNIaj. (tco. Sleptoe Washington, General Washing- 
ton's ne})how. This lady was Lucy Payne, a sister of Mrs. 
President ]\Iadison. 

Col. Charles Stewart Todd was the second son of Judge 
Thomas Todd ; was born in Lincoln county, Kentucky, January 
22nd, ITi'l; was educated for the bar; volunteered for serv- 
ice during Winchester's campaign, 1812-13; held a conmiis- 
sion on the staff of General Harrison, and so distinguished 
himself in battle that his chief wrote of him that he "was 
equal in bravery and superior in intel- 
ligence to any other officer of his rank 
in the arm v." He was secretary of 
state under Governor Madison ; rep- 
resented his county (Shelby) in the 
legislature; was mmister to Colombia, 
South America ; a commissioner to 
the Presbyterian General Assembly, 
1837-39 ; and minister to St. Peters- 
burgh under President Tyler (1841- 
4")). His wife was Letitia, youngest 
daughter of Governor Shelby. He 
look an active interest in affairs, po- 
litical and religious, as long as he 
lived. He died in his eightv-first 
year. May 14th, 1871. 

Besides those mentioned, mau}^ 
gentlemen of this name have been 
useful and honored citizens, since Kentucky attained to 
statehood, distinguished in various walks of life. Promi- 
nent among these was Col. Robert S. Todd, the father of Mrs. 
Al)rah;im Lincoln, Mrs. Ben Hardin Helm, Mrs. Wm. Wal- 
lace Hcrr, and four talented and gallant sons, all of whom 
were soldiers, and all of whom except one fell during the civil 
war. (\)l()nel Todd was born in 1792, and early became a 
popular man of affairs and a politician. He was for many 
years clerk of the House of Representatives; was president 
of the Lexington Branch Bank of Kentuckv from the time of 




HON. THOMAS TODD. 

First Kentuckian made Judge of 
U. S. Supreme Court. 



214 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

its establishment till 1836 ; represented Fayette county in the 
legislature, 1841, 1842, 1844; and was state senator, 1845- 
1849. He died at the age of fifty-seven, June Kith, 1849. 

V. Gen. John Adair. — This distinguished soldier and 
statesman did not come to Kentucky till some time after the 
close of the revolution; but while yet a young man he bore 
his part as a fighter in the American army and a sufferer in 
British prisons, during that memorable contest. He was born 
in South Carolina in 1757. In 1786 he came to what is now 
Mercer county, and began an active, useful, and honorable 
career, and soon became distinguished among the many not- 
able men of a period, 1774 to 1813, which has been styled 
"the heroic age of Kentucky." In command of the detach- 
ment that was attacked by Little Turtle near Fort St. Clair, as 
previously noticed, his coolness, discretion, and invincible 
courage led to victory against odds and disadvantage. Fre- 
quently engaged in repelling savage forays, he was recognized 
as a leader; in the civil affairs of the young commonwealth, 
he was regarded as a citizen of good judgment, liberal views, 
and genuine public spirit. When General Shelby took the 
Held in 1813, Adair accompanied him as aide-de-camp, and 
was in the battle of the Thames. His gallantry and efficiency 
were commended in Shelby's report; and after the conclu- 
sion of the northwestern campaign he was appointed adjutant- 
general of the Kentucky troops, with the rank of brigadier- 
general, and as such commanded the Kentuckians at the battle 
of New Orleans. He represented Mercer county in the leo;is- 
latures of 1793-94-95 ; 1798 ; and 1800-1-2-3. Subsequently 
he was reijister of the Land Office; was in the legislature 
agam m 1817; and in 1820 he was elected governor in oppo- 
sition to formidable opponents. In 1825 he was elected to 
the United States Senate for one year; and was elected to 
Congress for the term 1831-33. He died at the age of 
eighty-three, May 19th, 1840. 

VI. The "Ancient Governor." — When Gov. James Clark 
came to Frankfort (1836), to assume the duties of his office, 
he had with him as a body-servant a negro man, Daniel Clark, 
who, many years before, had l)een brought by slave-dealers from 
Africa to Charleston, South Carolina, and afterward came into 
possession of the Clark family in Kentucky. He was old 
enough Mdien bought or captured in his native country to note 



THE JACKSON PURCHASE. 215 

the incidents of the ocean voytige, which he remembered dis- 
tinctly during his long life. On coming to Frankfort, he was 
employed about the governor's mansion and executive office, 
and for thirty-six years, through all the changes of adminis- 
tration, he continued in this service, and came to be known as 
the "Ancient Governor." On the 27th of January, 1872, the 
Senate of Kentucky i)asscda bill by a majority of 30 out of 34 
votes, giving him a pension of $12.50 per month for life, on 
the ground that he Avas then, in the language of the bill, "a 
very old and infirm man, not able to work or perform the 
full duties of said office any longer, and as an evidence of the 
appreciation in which Kentucky holds his faithfulness and 
honesty, and of her unwillingness that he shall want for a 
support." Pending the consideration of the bill by the house 
he died; and the legislature passed a resolution (February 
17th), commending him as "a notable example to all men, 
white or black, of industry, sol)riety, courtesy according to 
his station, uud iutugrily in office," 



210 YOUNG people's history op KENTUCKY. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

KENTUCKY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 

1845-1849. 

1. The war with Mexico cannot be noticed in detail, but 
Kentucky phiyed an important part in the contest; and the 
conduct of her people generally, and of her volunteers in the 
field, constitutes an interesting chapter of her history. 

2. The trouble was caused by the annexation of Texas to 
the United States. From 1821 to 1836 the territory now 
constituting that great state was a province of Mexico. For a 
long time it was the policy of Spain and Mexico to keep Texas 
uninhabited, as a sort of barrier between Mexico and the 
United States ; but at length large land grants were made to 
the citizens of the latter country, and in a few years they had 
laid the foundation of an English-speaking commonwealth. 
Among the early settlers were many Kentuckians. 

3. When the population and wealth of Texas had so 
increased as to afford opportunities for injustice and oppres- 
sion, the course of the Mexican government was such as out- 
raged the sense of right in a people who had been accustomed 
to just and lawful rule. In 1835 they revolted and took up 
arms to establish their independence. Volunteers from differ- 
ent states of the Union hurried to their support. Shaler says 
that "many hundred of the soldiers of the Texan army were 
from Kentucky. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, Gen. Felix 
Huston, and many other distinguished officers were her sons." 
A few engagements were sufficient to throw off the Mexican 
yoke; and in 1836 the independence of the new state was 
acknowledged by the United States and other leading powers. 

4. Texas soon afterward asked to be admitted to the Union ; 
but there was a great party in the United States that opposed 



KENTUCKY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 217 

this; and it was not till 1X44 that the question of annexation 
became an issue in a })resiclential election. Polk, the candi- 
date of those who favored it, was elected. On the 1st of 
March, 1(S45, three days before Polk was inaugurated, a bill 
of annexation was adopted, in accordance with the will of the 
people, and approved by the outgoing president. The Texas 
Legislature ratified it July 4th, 1845, and sent an immediate 
request to President Polk to dispatch troops for their protec- 
tion against Mexico, whereupon Gen. Zachary Taylor was 
ordered to occupy Texas Avith a part of the regular army. All 
efforts of the United States to settle the dispute (which was 
mainly one of boundary) were fruitless. 

5. On the 26th of April, 1846, the Mexican general on the 
frontier notified General Taylor that war had begun, and a 
company of United States dragoons was attacked the same 
day. Other engagements quickly followed; and on the 11th 
of May Congress declared that by the act of the Republic of 
^Mexico a state of war already existed between that govern- 
ment and the United States. 

6. A careful study of the history of the country will show 
you that the people of Kentucky had at least been slow to 
advocate annexation and probable war with a neigljboring 
power ; but as soon as the Mexicans crossed the border and 
killed and captured a small force of United States troops, 
party differences were lest sight of, party feeling subsided, 
and the whole state was ablaze with patriotic ardor. Reliable 
information as to the action of Congress had hardly reached 
Frankfort when Governor Owsley, anticipating a formal call 
from the president, appealed to the men of the state (May 
17th, 1846) to form themselves into volunteer companies and 
report forthwith to him. Next day the Louisville Legion 
(commanded by Col. Stephen Ormsby) offered their services 
to the governor and were accepted. Wm. Preston (afterward 
famous as a statesman and general) procured in Louisville a 
subscription of $r)0,000 which he placed to the credit of the 



21S 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



governor, to be used if necessary in dispatching troops to the 
seat of war; and the Northern Bank of Kentucky, at Lexing- 
ton, tendered the governor $250,000 more for the same 
purpose. 

7. The president called on all the states for 43,500 volun- 
teers, and now (May 22nd, 1846) Governor Owsley made 
formal requisition for two regiments of infantry and one of 

cavahy. Four days afterward he 
proclaimed that the requisition was 
full. Ormsby's regiment, First Ken- 
tucky Infantry, was already on its 
way to Mexico. In response to this 
call for three regiments, or thirty 
companies, one hundred and five 
companies were organized and ten- 
dered to the governor. Seventy-five 
of these were of course disbanded. 
Besides these there were many others 
in process of enlistment. In a few 
weeks Kentucky offered about one- 
fourth as many men as the entire 
twenty-nine states had been asked 
Had every other state enlisted proportionately the pres- 
ident would have had at his disposal, within a month after 
issuing his call, more than 400,000 volunteers. 

8. On the 29th of June, President Polk appointed three 
Kentuckians to high military command, as follows: Zachary 
Taylor, major-general in the regular army; William O. But- 
ler, major-general of volunteers; and Thomas Marshall, 
brigadier-general of volunteers. Philip N. Barbour already 
held a major's commission and S. B. Buckner that of a lieu- 
tenant, in the regular army. 

9. The field ofiicers of the First Regiment Kentucky In- 
fantry were Col. Stephen Ormsby, Lieut. -Col. Jason Eogers, 
and Maj . John B. Shepherd. Of the Second Kentucky Infantry, 




MAJOR-GENEllAL 

WM. PRESTON, 

C. S. A. 



for 



KENTUCKY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 21!) 

Col. Win. R. McKce, Lieut. -Col. Henry Clay, Jr., and Maj. 
Carey II. Fry. Of the Fir.st Kentucky Cavalry, Col. Hum- 
phrey Marshall, Lieut. -Col. Ezekiel II. Field, and Maj. John 
P. Gaines. Capt. John S. AVillianis had raised a company for 
this regiment which was not included; but it was accepted by 
special order of the war office, as a separate command. 

10. In addition to these, four companies were recruited in 
Kentucky, early in 1847, for the Sixteenth United States 
Infantry, and did service with that regiment in Mexico. 

11. During the second year of the war Kentucky was called 
on for two more regiments of infantry (August 31st, 1<S47), 
and within a short time these, numbering nearly two thousand 
men, were organized and reported. The field officers of the 
Third Kentucky Infantry were Col. Manlius V. Thomson, 
Lieut. -Col. Thomas L. Crittenden, and Maj. John C. Breck- 
inridge. Of the Fourth Kentucky Infantry, Col. John S. 
Williams, Lieut. -Col. William Preston, and Maj. Wm. T. 
Ward. Twelve more companies were reported, and a number 
of others were partly made up, but only the two organized 
regiments were accepted. These were dispatched to the seat 
of war ; but even before they left Kentucky the United States 
army had taken the City of Mexico, and the conflict was 
virtuallv over. The new reH^iments lost hundreds of men bv 
accident and disease; but were disbanded in July, 1848, with- 
out having e^igaged in other than garrison duty. The names 
of all officers and men of the five Kentucky regiments that 
went to Mexico, with some facts relating to each, are recorded 
in the report of the Adjutant-General of Kentucky, Roster 
of Officers and Soldiers of the Mexican War, published in 
188!) . 

12. Of these volunteers for service in the Mexican war, 
and Kentuckians in the regular service, at least thirtv attained 
to eminence during the war of 18Gl-()r), about equally divided 
between the Federal and Confederate armies. One of them 



220 YOUNO people's I1I8TORY OF KENTUCKY. 

was a lieutenant-general, eight were major-generals, thirteen 
were brigadier-generals, and eight were colonels. 

13. The first engagement in which Kentuckians had any part 
was that at Monterey (September l*»th-2ord, 1<S4(;). Here 
Gen. Wm. O. Butler, of the regulars, was severely wounded, 
and Maj. Philip N. Barbour, of the Third Regular Infantry, 
was killed. The only regiment of Kentucky volunteers pres- 
ent was the Louisville Legion, and that was not actively 
engaged in the several assaults which resulted in the capture 
of the town ; but it had a harder duty to perform — the hardest 
to which troops can be subjected. It was pasted to guard a 
battery of cannon against Mexican cavalry and artillery, and 
was nearly twenty-four hours exposed to an artillerj' fire with- 
out being able to return it. In the official report of the siege 
it was said of these young men, subjected for the first time to 
a severe and long-continued test, that they "displayed obedi- 
ence, patience, discipline, and courage." 

14. In the battle of Buena Vista (February 22nd-23rd, 
1<S47), General Taylor had 4,759 men, nearly one-fifth of whom 
were Kentuckians. This little force had to fight a Mexican 
army of about 25,000 men, with t^vice as many and better 
cannon ; but the American general had taken position where the 
character of the ground made it impossible for General Santa 
Anna to bring his whole force against hiui at one time. 

15. In the little fighting that took place on the 22nd (late 
in the afternoon), the Kentuckians had no part; but on the 
23rd their services were in demand, the old-time valor of their 
state was notably displayed, and their sacrifices brought 
sorrow as well as patriotic pride to many a Kentucky home. 
After the battle had raged here and there on the rugged field 
with doubtful fortune, the Second Kentucky, in conjunction 
with some Illinois troops, was ordered forward to break a 
part of the Mexican line which proved to be mnch stronger 
than it appeared to the American general. They were met by 
four times their number, and a fierce conflict ensued. The 



KENTUCKY IX THE MEXICAN WAR. 



221 



KendicUians and Illinoi«an.s Averc at length Ix^riie back by 
(lie oNorwlicliuiiig odds, Avith very serious loss. Among the 
iiiaiiy who had fallen, Colonel McKcc, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Clay and Capt. "William T. "Willis, were all killed. Their men 
fouijht over tluMr bodies and tried to bear them back to their 
lines; but a number were slain in the attempt. The on-rush- 
ing jNTexicans, in a somewhat confused mass, were at length 
repulsed with great slaughter by the i)artially enfilading cross- 
tire of two batteries of American artillery ; but m this, the 
most serious loss during the battle, 
the Kentuckians had suffered out of 
proportion to their niunbers. 

lO. The Kentucky cavalry also 
came in this afternoon for their share 
of the fighting and their contribution 
to the final victory. A large body of 
the Mexican cavalry had Avorked its 
way around a flank of the American i 
army, to attack it in the rear. Colonel 
Marshall's regiment, the First Ken- 
tucky Cavalry, and a small i)art of 
Colonel Yell's Arkansas Cavalry, 
turned upon them and charged. 
There Avas a short hand-to-hand fight, and the Mexicans, 
though greatly outnumbering the attacking force, sustained 
nmch loss and fled from the field. The Americans Avere poorly 
armed aiul poorly mounted, but they made up in stern courage 
Avhat they lacked in these respects. Among the killed of 
the First Kentucky in this engagement was its gallant adju- 
tant, Edward JNI. Vaughn. 

17. Of Taylor's troops that won the great Anctory, nineteen 
per cent. Avere Kentuckians. Their killed and Avounded Avere 
eighteen out of eveiy hundred. So, you see that Kentucky 
gaA'e more than her share toward Avinning for the United 
States the glory of the famous field of Buena Vista, 




GENERAL AND SKNATOK 
JOHN S. AVILLIAMS. 



222 YOUNG people's history 0¥ KENTUCKY. 

18. It bus been previously noted tbat tbe company of 
Capt. Jobn S. Wilbams wbich was intended for tbe First 
Cavah-y, failed to be included in tbat regiment and was 
specially accepted by tbe War Department. It joined General 
Scott at Vera Cruz and was on tbe campaiofn wbicb resulted 
in tbe capture of tbe Mexican capital — doing bonorable and 
efficient service tbrougbout and especially distinguisbing itself 
in tbe assault on Cerro Gordo (April 18tb, 1847). 

19. Maj. Jobn P. Gaines, Capt. Cassius M. Clay, and tbirty 
men of tbe First Cavalry were captured at Encarnacion 

(January 29tb, 1847), baving been 
surrounded by an overwbelming force 
of Mexicans ; and for several niontbs 
tbey were imprisoned in tbe City of 
Mexico. 

20. During tbe war Kentucky was 
affectionately mindful of tbose wbo 
bad f ouffbt as became Kentuckians and 
bad fallen in defense of tbeir country. 
On tbe 20tb of July, 1847, tbe remains 
of Col. Wm. E. McKee, Lieut.-Col. 
GOVERNOR AND SENATOR Harry Clay, Capt. Wm. H. Maxey, 
LAZARUS w. POWELL. ^(jj^ £, M, Vaugbn, Lieut. James 
Powell, and a number of private soldiers, were re-interred 
in tbe state section of tbe beautiful and picturesque peme- 
tery at Frankfort, witb tbe most impressive ceremonies, in 
wbicb twenty tbousand citizens participated. Subsequently 
tbe soldiers from Franklin, Montgomery and Sbelby counties, 
wbo bad fallen in tbe service, were brougbt borne and re-in- 
terred in tbe State Cemetery witb funeral bonors. Tbis 
bas since been tbe policy of tbe state. 

21. "Since tbe world began," says Gen. Tbomas L. Crit- 
tenden, "no people bave ever risen to power and splendor 
wbo bave not cberisbed tbe memory of tbeir great men and 
striven to perpetuate it. * * * To us, God bas revealed 
tbe rigbt idea of virtue, wdiicb forliids us to worsbip bonor 




KENTUCKY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 223 

while it teaches us to esteem it, seek after it, and maintain 
it." And no countiy that lovingly tjathers up the dust of 
those who have died in its service, in foreign lands, that it 
may rest in its native soil, with that of its kindred, can ever 
lack for statesmen and defenders. 

22. At the August election of 1848 the sense of the people 
as to the propriety of revising the constitution was taken, 
;ind a large majority declared in favor of calling a convention 
for this i)urpose. The delegates w^erc chosen at the August 
election of 1841), and met at Frankfort October 1st. A new 
constitution was drafted and submitted to a vote of the 
people, the election to be held May 7th, 1850. It was 
adopted by a majority of more than 40,000. The convention 
re-assembled June ord, ado})ted several amendments, and pro- 
claimed the new instrument to be in effect from and after the 
day of adjournment, June 11th, 18.50. 

23. The great cause of dissatisfaction with the constitution 
of 1798 was that all judges and county officers were appointed 
bv the governor or some other authority and held their offices 
during life or good behavior. The new one made them peri- 
odically elective, by the vote of the people. 






PERSONAL SKETCIIF:S. 

I. Kentucky's Great Orators. — At almost every stage of 
her history Kentucky has had able and brilliant men in the 
puljiits, at the bar, or in the state and Federal councils, who 
have had a national re})utation as orators ; but the most emi- 
nent of these were Henry Clay, Thomas F. INIarshall, and 
Richard H. Menefee. Clay was born in Hanover county, Vir- 
ginia, April 12th, 1777; was licensed to practice law in 1797; 
came soon after to Lexington, Kentucky, and very soon 
attracted ])opular attention and speedily attained to eminence 
as one of the most able statesmen and brilliant orators in the 
United States. Till the day of his death (June 29th, 1852), 




224 



KENTUCKY IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 



22b 




THOMAS F. MARSHALL. 



lie held ;i commanding position among the many great public 
men of the first half of this century; and his fame is world- 
wide. 

Marshall was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, June 7th, 1801, 
and died near Versailles, September 
22nd, 18()4. With a solidity of mind 
that is seldom found in a man distin- 
guished for entrancing eloquence, he 
was one of the most remarkable men 
of a remarkable a^e. Learned, logical, 
witty, humorous, and full of pathos 
when occasion recjuired, he may be said 
to haye stood almost unriyalled as an 
orator, whether at the bar, as a polit- 
ical campaigner, or in state and na- 
tional councils. 

Menefee was born in Bath county in 
1810, and was not only de})endent upon 
his exertions for an education, but had to 
struggle against influences that would haye discouraged and 
defeated a less noble spirit. Beginning the practice of law at 

an early age he quickly attained to 
reputation and success ; when barely 
eligible he was elected to the legisla- 
ture, in Avhich body he attracted the 
attention of the whole state; and at 
the age of twenty-seyen he was elected 
to Congress, where he at once took 
^flili rank not only as an orator but as a 
statesman. Like Marshall, his mind 
was strong and logical, and he was 
eloquent because he sought earnestly 
to conyince and not to captiyate by 
mere brilliant rhetoric and studied 
elocution. He died of consumption 
(1840), in his thirty-first year, but 
thus early he had achieyed a splendid reputation. 

The careers of these men are full of lessons for talented 
and ambitious young Kentuckians ; and a study of their liyes 
as found more particularly recorded elsewhere will furnish 
emphatic warning as well as stirring inspiration, 
lo 




RICHARD H. MENEFEE. 



226 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

II. Kentuckiaiis Among Other State Troops. — Other 
states numbered among their vohmteers for the war with 
Mexico many natives of Kentucky. Col. John J. Hardin, 
commander of the First Regiment of Illinois Infantry, who 
was killed at Buena Vista, gallantly leading his regiment in the 
desperate charge in whicli so many of the Second Kentucky 
fell, was a Kentuckian — the son of Senator Martin D. Ilaidin, 
of Frankfort. To Kentucky, too, belongs the honor of having 
furnished the western division of the army which conquered 
Mexico a commander "who made one of the most brilliant 
movements of the war," Gen. Alexander W. Doniphan. He 
was born and reared in Matron county. With a force of only 
seven hundred men he marched from Santa Fe, in the winter 
of 1846-47, a distance of more than eight hundred miles, to 
join the army in Mexico; routed on the way, in two battles, 
greatly superior forces of the enemy ; and finally reached his 
destination with small loss. 




KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



227 



CHAPTER XIV. 

FROM 1850 TO 18(50. — KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR: SOME 
OF THE EVENTS OF 18 GO TO 1861. 

1. For ten years after the constitution of 1849-50 went 
into effect, few events of notable prominence occurred except 
exciting political contests, in which, as noted elsewhere, Ken- 
tuckians have always engaged Avith a lively zest. During all 
this time, however, the slavery ques- „,-~-^ 

tion became more and more a cause 
of anxiety and agitation. In a sepa- 
rate chapter you will find the subject 
of African slavery in Kentucky and 
the relations of the colored race to 
our })eople — in slavery, in time of 
war, in the condition of freemen and 
citizens — especially treated. 

2. From 1850 to 18(50, Kentucky 
was almost uniformly and more than 
usually prosperous, though from 1<S54: 
to 1S57 there was again financial dis- 
turbance in the United States which 
had its effect in Kentucky, but was fur less serious tjian pre- 
vious ones. 

3. In this year, too, the military ardor and love of adven- 
ture which have always been notable traits in the men of Ken- 
tucky had another o})portunity to manifest itself. The Terri- 
tory of Utah was opposed to Federal control, and when a 
Federal judge was sent to reside there and preside over the 
United States Court, he was forcibly prevented from exercis- 
ing the duties of his office. There was, in effect, an insurrec- 
tion. In the autumn, an army of 2,500 men under Albert 
Sidnev Johnston, then a colonel in the United States service, 




SENATOK 
DAVID MERRIWETHER. 



228 YOUNG I'KOrLE's 1I18TOKY OF KENTUCKY. 

Avas .sent to (luell it. Before the matter was adjusted and the 
Federal troops withcTrawn, the Kentucky Legishiture enipoAV- 
ered Governor Morehead (February li^th, LSocS) to raise a 
regiment of vokmteers to aid the United States in restoring 
order in the refractory region. On the 6th. of March, the 
governor made his call, and within a month twenty-three 
companies offered their services. There had previously been 
outrages, and butcheries of inoffensive immigrants, incited by 
Mormon authorities ; and of the general feeling of resentment 
Kentuckians were (juick to partake. The governor chose 
from the tAventy-three, by lot, ten strong and well-officered 
companies ; but the Federal authority was established early 
in the spring of l<sr)8, and they were not called upon for 
service. 

4. You come now to the saddest episode in the great story 
of your state. Hitherto, in all their sanguinary conflicts the 
Kentuckians had stood together. Shoulder to shoulder, aid- 
ing and encouraging each other, they had fought their battles, 
borne their burdens, and endured their sufferings. Together 
they had wrested from a foreign and oppressive power a wide 
domain for the United States, reduced to submission the 
treacherous Indians who would not abide by solemn treaties, 
and built u\), on part of the hard-won territory, a great com- 
monwealth for themselves and their posterity. 

5. Nuw we have to consider them as divided, estranged, 
and, for four unhappy years, turning their arms against each 
other, and engaging in mortal strife with that fierceness and 
persistence which characterized them when they fought insult- 
ing; strano-ers who had made themselves their common foes, 
and prowling savages who sought to nuirder and destroy. 
Brothers against brothers, fathers against sons, kinsmen 
against those whom they had proudly claimed as of their own 
blood, friends who had long discharged toward each other the 
offices of good neighborhood and kindly sympathy, those who 
from childhood had assembled in the same sanctuaries to 



KENTUCKY IX THE C;iVIL WAR. 



229 



worship God — these, parthig in bitterness, and arraying them- 
selves in the ranks of great opposing armies to shed each 
other's blood! On many a sanguinary field, when the battle 
was done and the wounded were to be gathered up and the dead 
rudely buried where they fell, did some who performed those 
offices come upon the lifeless forms or look upon the agonized 
faces of mangled kinsmen and friends whom they had loved in 
other days, and whom, perhaps, their own shots and saber- 
strokes had brought down. . It is such a picture when viewed 
in all its lights and shades, as the pen of history has seldom 
if ever drawn, and will never have to draw again. 

6. Neither the causes nor the conse- 
quences of the civil war can be dis- 
cussed in detail in a work of this kind. 
In the outset it is sufficient to say that ^n^^ 
the tjreat underlvins; cause was the 
different view taken by the two sec- 
tions (north and south) of the consti- 
tution of the United States, as to the 
relation between the general govern- 
ment and the states. Northern people, 
in general, held that under the consti- 
tution the Union is one and inseparable ; 
in fact, that it is a great central power 
\o which the states are subordinate; that the acts of Congress 
;ire binding on the states, however repugnant they may be, 
until declared by the supreme court to be unconstitutional; 
and that the highest allegiance of a citizen is to the centra] 
government, not to his own state. The people of the south 
held that the states were sovereign, and that the Union was 
but a conditional compact, which could be dissolved — each of 
the states having the right to judge for itself, "as well of 
infractions as of the mode and measure of redress." The 
effective mode of redi'ess, in case of disaffection with the cen- 
tral power, was to dissolve connection with it — to secede from 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



230 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



the Union and resume its own unequalified sovereignty. With 
this party, the allegiance of a citizen was first to his own state, 
then to the general government. 

7. The immediate occasion of the war was slavery. In the 
south the great burden of labor was borne chiefly by negroes 
who were held in bondage and regarded as property. The 
southern })eople had come to regard slavery with favor ; to 
believe it warranted by the divine law ; to deem it essential to 
their prosperity. 

8. In 1860, there were four candidates for the presidency 
of the United States. The Democratic party was divided on 

some aspects of the slavery question 
and had two candidates in the field. 
The National Americans or the last 
organization of the old Whig party 
also made a nomination. The candi- 
date of the Republican party, Abra- 
ham Lincoln, was elected. 

9. From the foundation of the 
government there had been opposition 
to slavery, and agitation increased 
until a sectional division arose. The 
north and the south were arrayed 
against each other in Conofress on 
questions affecting this peculiar institution. A powerful fac- 
tion at the north favored the speedy and unconditional aboli- 
tion of slavery; the Republican party was known to be in 
favor of confining it to the states where it already existed 
and of its ultimate extinction. The south had lonii^ reararded 
the unfriendly attitude of the north as destructive of her 
peace and a menace to her prosperity. When a strong anti- 
slavery party came into power with the election of Mr. Lin- 
coln, eleven southern states seceded and organized a separate 
government, with Jefferson Davis as president. 




JEFFERSON DAVIS. 



KENTUCKY IN THE CTVIT. WAR. 



231 




10. Kentucky, though a slave-holding state, refused to se- 
cede. Her people were divided in sentiment as to the right of 
secession, and more radically divided as to the propriety of 
asserting it and allying themselves 
with the Confederacy. From the first 
she took the attitude of a peace- 
maker. When it became evident that 
the secession of the southern states 
was about to begin, the senior senator 
of Kentucky, John J. Crittenden, of- 
fered in the United States Senate 
(December 18th, 18G0) some amend- 
ments to the constitution designed to 
restore peace ; but madness had al- 
ready seized upon the people, and 
there was no longer in the halls of governor and senator 

.V . JOHN J. CRITTENDEN. 

Congress a spn-it of compromise. 

Crittenden's resolutions were rejected. In January, 1861, a 
committee of border slave state men framed compromise reso- 
lutions which came to be known as 
the Crittenden Compromise. He took 
the lead in urging their favorable 
consideration and trying to allay the 
storm of excitement, but in vain. 

11. Governor Magotfin, then in the 
first year of his administration as 
Kentucky's chief executive, called an 
extra session of the legislature to con- 
sider the condition of the country. 
This met January 17th, 1861, and in 
his message to that body the governor 
recommended among other things the 
calling of a convention, that the peo- 
ple might decide for themselves the attitude which Kentucky 
should assume. He, with the newly-elected United States 
senator, John C. Breckinridge, and other leading men, be- 




GOVERNOR 
BERIAH MAGOFFIN. 



232 



YOUNO PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



lieved that if Kentucky and other border slave states would 
take prompt and definite action either in favor of the seceded 
states or in opposition to them, there would be no war. The 
legislature declined to call a convention; but appointed six 
able, influential and representative gentlemen to a peace con- 
ference. This conference met in Washington, February 4th, 
1861, but nothing was effected, 

12. When President Lincoln called upon the states (April, 
1861) for troops to carry out the policy of maintaining 
the Union by force. Governor Magoffin emphatically re- 
fused to furnish them, and his action 
met with the approval of the people 
generall3^ Though there was a great 
and growing i)arty that opposed seces- 
sion, there was among nearly all a 
strong sentiment against going to war 
to compel the southern states to return 
to their allegiance to the Federal gov- 
ernment. At a convention called to 
consider the matter, composed of dele- 
gates representing both wings of the 
Democratic party, strong resolutions 
were adopted indorsing the governor's 
refusal to furnish troops to make war 
upon the south. 

13. The called session of January adjourned on the 11th 
of February, to reassemble March 20th, but at this latter 
term there was wide diversity of opinion and no decisive 
action. 

14. After the call for troops, public speakers and writers 
who favored the southern movement became more and more 
direct, earnest and even vehement in their insistence that the 
state should secede; and strong Union men, though now 
hopeless of preventing war (which had alreadv begun), 
steadily opposed them, and recommended that Kentucky 




MAJOR-GKNEWAL 

JKO. C. BRECKINRIDGE 

C. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



233 



should keep her phicc in the Union and still stand as a media- 
tor between the two sections. At Lexington, April 17th, 
1861, Senator Crittenden advocated this policy in a great 
speech that had much to do in shaping the course which was 
subse(|uently adopted. 

15. The legislature again met in called session (May 6th, 
1861) and adoj^ted the position of armed neutrality; that is, 
a declaration that Kentucky, as a state, would take no part 
with either section, but would defend herself against invasion 
by either. To carry out this policy the State Guard was to be 
increased and thoroughh^ armed and equipped. To the State 
Guard, organized under a previous act, 
was added a reserve force know spe- 
citically as the Home Guard. The arms 
and amnunition furnished the state 
troops Avere not to be used against 
either belligerent excei)t in repelling in- 
vasion. The older organization was in 
the main in sympathy with the south- 
ern movement ; the more recent one 
consisted chiefly of Union men. The 
governor proclaimed neutrality and for- 
bade the United States and the Con- 
federate States to enter Kentuck}^ with 
armed forces. 

16. Meanwhile, feeling had intensified, and there was hope- 
less di\nsion. Passion usurped the place of reason ; and angry 
recrimination Avas substituted for sober discussion. The 
people in general had identified themselves with the two an- 
tagonistic parties, and neutrality Avas to them but an official 
declaration for Avhich, as individuals, they had no respect. 
The Avarlike spirit of Kentuckians made it impossible for them 
to stand idly by when blows Avere to be given in defense of 
their respective \-ieAvs of right. If their state declined to lead 
them against one or the other hostile power they Avould enter 




MAJOR-GENERAL 
LOVELL J. ROUSSEAU. 

U. S. A. 



234 



YOUNG PEOPLP: S history r)F KENTUCKY. 



the lists on their own account; and vohmteering for service 
in the army of their own individual choice was soon actively 
going on. Even previous to this the First Regiment of Ken- 
tucky Infantry, for the Confederate service, had been organ- 
ized and was now on duty in the Army of Northern Virginia. 
Recruiting stations for the Federal army were established 
just over the border — Camp Clay, in Ohio, opposite New- 
port, and Camp Joe Holt, in Indiana, opposite Louisville. 
For the Confederate army. Camp Boone, Camp Burnett, and 
other stations were established in Tennessee, just beyond our 

southwestern boundary. To these re- 
paired thousands of the men of Ken- 
tucky, where they enrolled them- 
selves for service. 

17. Many southern sympathizers 
crossed over the eastern border into 
Virginia; and it was but a short time 
before troops for both armies were 
organizing within the limits of the 
state. The existence of a recruiting 
station, known as Camp Dick Robin- 
son, in Garrard county, which no 
effort was made to break up, was re- 
garded by the Confederate authori- 
ties as a violation of the state's neu- 
trality, though otherwise construed by the Union men, and on 
the 3rd of September, 1861, a Confederate force under Gen. 
Leonidas Polk invaded Kentucky and took position at Colum- 
bus, on the Mississippi river; and Gen. Felix Zollicoffer came 
at the same time into the southern part of the state and sta- 
tioned his forces near Cumberland Gap. On the 5th of Sep- 
tember, Federal troops under General Grant occupied Paducah. 
18. At the August election, 1861, the Union men elected 
an overwhelming majority of the General Assembly, and it 
was no longer a question as to wdio should control. 




BRIGADIER AND BREVET 

MAJOR-6KNKRAL 

KOBT. ANDERSON, 

U. S. A. 



KENTUCKY TN THE nVIL WAR. 



235 



Previous to this (June 20th, 1<S(!1), at a special election for 
members of Congress, but a .single State Sovereignty candi- 
date was successful, the entire Union majority being 54,7()(). 

19. September 11th, 1<S()1, the legislature, which had met 
a few davs before and ordered the United States tiaof to be 
hoisted over the capitol, resolved, by a joint vote of DG to o4, 
that Governor Magotlin be instructed to inform those con- 
cerned that Kentucky expected the Confederate troops to be 
withdrawn from her soil unconditionally. This the governor 
vetoed, but it was immediately passed over his head by more 
than the necessary two-thirds vote. 
A motion in the House of Repre- 
sentatives to instruct the governor to 
demand the removal of the Federal 
as well as the Confederate troops was 
rejected by a majority of 39 out of 
97 votes cast. 

20. On the 18th of September, 
resolutions were passed by the Gen- 
eral Assembh', over the governor's 
veto, formal]}' abandoning neutrality 
and fully committing the state to alle- 
giance to the Federal grovernment. 
Gen. Robert Anderson, a native Ken- 

tuckian, the defender of ^ort Sum- 

j 

ter, who had been appointed commandant of the Department 
of the Cumberland, which included Kentucky, was authorized 
to call out a volunteer force of 40,000, which he was requested 
to place under the immediate command of Brig. -Gen. Thomas 
L. Crittenden (an officer of the State Guard who had adhered 
to the Union cause), for the purpose of expelling the Confed- 
erates from Kentucky. "War was thus virtually declared 
against the Confederacy. 

21. It is of interest to consider Kentucky's contribution 
of soldiers to the armies euiraged in this might v conflict. In 




MAJOR-GENERAL 

THOMAS L. CRITTENDEN, 

U. S. A. 



236 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTTiCKY. 



18G0, her population was less than one-thirtieth of that of the 
United States and organized territories; but she contributed 
at least one-thirtieth of all the men that were enlisted by both 
contending sections. For the Federal service she gave more 
than 78,000 men; for the Confederate service, the number 
has been estimated at from 2,), 000 to 40,000. Her volun- 
teers were in all about ninety in every hundred men of mili- 
tary age. 




KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



237 



CHAPTER XV. 

KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR: FROM SEFfEilBER 1861 TILL 
AFTER THE BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 

1. To write in detail the histoiy of Kentucky soldiers would 
be to write the history of the war, particularly that part of it 
which was fousfht wet and south of Virginia. All that can 
l)e attempted here is to give you a l)rief statement of what 
occurred in our own borders — actions and events in which 
Kentucky soldiers participated or with 
which they were identified by being 
meanwhile at the battle's front else- 
where. 

2. Early in September, Gen. Albert 
Sidney Johnston took comnumd of that 
part of the Confederate force which 
was designated as the Central Army of 
Kentucky, to confront the Federal 
troops along the northern border of 
the Confederacy and contend for the 
l)ossession of Kentucky. On the 18th 

of Se])tember, he ordered General albert Sidney johnston, 
Buckner to advance from Camp Boone ^' ' ' 

to Bowling Green, with Kentucky and Tennessee troops, and 
fortify. This was the center of a line of operations extend- 
ing from the Mississippi river to the Cumberland Gap. A 
detachment was thrown forward to Green river, and the 
Nashville railroad was broken up northward to within forty 
miles of Louisville, to prevent its use by the Federal arm>'. 
On the 21st, the Confederates destroyed the locks and dams 
on Green river to prevent General Grant from moving upon 
the flank of their position by boats. 




GENERAL 



238 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

3. Occasional conflicts occurred during the next few weeks. 
On the 21st of October, General Zollicoifer began, with seven 
thousand men, an advance towards the central part of the 
state, but was encountered by Col. (afterward General) T. T. 
Garrard, at Wild Cat mountain, near London, with the Sev- 
enth Kentucky Federal Infantry, and a fight with Zollicoffer's 
advance ensued, which was maintained by the Federal officer 
until re -enforcements came up. General Schoepif arrived 
with six regiments of infantry and Wolford's cavalry, and 
took strong position. After some loss, on both sides, of 

which the Confederates sustained the 
greater part, Zollicoffer Avithdrew. 

4. Col. John S. Williams, in Novem- 
ber, then organizing a Confederate 
reffiment at Prestonbursrh, was threat- 
ened by Gen. William Nelson who was 
marchino; ao;ainst him with a strong; 
force. He sent a detachment to check 
Nelson's column, that the Confeder- 
ates might retire by way of Pikeville, 
with men and supplies, into Virginia. 
The Federals were encountered at Ivy 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL . tvt o i t i' 

THEOPHiLus T. GARRARD, mountam, Novembcr 8th, and atter a 
^" ^" ^' spirited engagement of more than an 

hour, during which loss was inflicted by both combatants, 
the Confederates retreated. Nelson's advance was so delayed, 
however, by the attack that Williams was enabled to withdraw 
from the state Avith all his military stores. 

5. On the 18th of November, Kentuckians who were iden- 
tified with the southern movement in feeling, and were deter- 
mined to give it active support, met in a Sovereignty conven- 
tion at Russellville, and during a three days' session, formed 
a provisional government for Kentucky, with a view to secur- 
ing representation in the Confederate Congress and ulti- 
matelv, in case the southern arms should prove triumphant, 




KENTUCKY IN TIIK CIVIL AVAR. 



239 




BRIGADIER-GENERAL 

HUMPHREY MARSHALL, 

C. S. A. 



of .securing it.s eudor.scnieiit by the people. Of this, George 
W. Johnson, of Scott county, was chosen governor. The 
usual sttite officers were also elected. Under this provisional 
form the state was admitted to the 
Confederacy in December; and, on 
the 22nd of Januar}^ 18(52, the sol- 
diers in the field elected representa- 
tives and senators to the Confederate 
Congress. 

6. At Sacramento, in McLean 
county, a company of Federal sol- 
diers was attacked (December 27th, 
1861) by Colonel (afterward Gen- 
eral) Forrest, and defeated, losing 
thirty-three in killed, wounded and 
captured — Confederate loss not re- 
l)orted. 

7. During this year there were various other small affairs, 
between isolated bodies of soldiers, of no special conse- 
quence to either of the belligerents. 

8. Early in 1862, more vigorous 
and effective operations began. On 
the lOtli of January, Gen. Hum- 
phrey Marshall, commanding Con- 
federate troops in eastern Kentucky, 
became eno-ao^ed with a Federal force 
under Col. James A. Garfield (aft- 
// erward president), at the Forks of 
'^y Middle Creek, near Prestonburgh, 
Flo3^d county, and was defeated, 
with a loss of fifty-two killed, 
wounded, and prisoners, while the 
Federal loss was but twenty-seven 
killed and wounded. 
9. Before this time General Buell, in command of the 
Department of the Cumberland since November loth, 1861, 
had organized at Louisville an army of 60,000 men. In Jan- 




MAJOU-GENERAL 

GEO. B. CRITTENDEN, 

C. S. A. 



240 



YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KEXTUCHvY. 



uary the Federal general, George II, Thomas, inart'lu'd 

a<yainst a Confederate force on the north ])ank of the Ciun- 

o 

berland river, in Pulaski county, under Gen. George B. Crit- 
tenden. On the 19th, General Zollicoffer was sent forward 
with about five thousand men, and encountered Thomas at 
Mill Spring, with nearly an equal force. The battle raged for 
hours, and the result seemed to be in doubt till large re-en- 
forcements reached General Thomas; about the same time 
General Zollicoffer was killed; and the Confederates were 
forced back to their foi-tiiications. They managed to escape 

across the Cumberland durinjj: the 
night, but were compelled to abandon 
a large amount of artillery and mili- 
tary stores. The loss in killed and 
wounded in this engagement was not 
great as compared with subsecjuent 
battles of the war ; but it was suffi- 
cient to indicate the fighting qualities 
of the opposing armies. 

lO. The retreat of Crittenden 
exposed the right flank of Johnston's 
line of operations. On the (Uh of 
Februar}', Fort Henry, in advance of 
the extreme left of this line, and in- 
tended to prevent the passage of 
Federal trt)ops by water-craft up the Tennessee river, was 
forced to surrender to General Grant. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman, 
the Confederate ofiicer commanding there, was a Kentuckian, 
who had resigned from the State Guard to take service for 
the south. 

11. In a week afterward, Grant, approaching both by land 
and by the Cumberland river, had invested Fort Donelson, on 
that stream, under command of Generals Floyd and Pillow. 
It was the only obstacle now between the Federal army 
and Nashville, in the rear of Johnston's central position at 




BRIGADIER- GENERAL 

LLOYD TILGHMAN, 

C. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IX THE CIVIL WAR. 



241 




Bowling Green. On Ihc 12tli of FcbruaiT, lute in the day, 
there was picket liuhting as the Federals ap})roached; on the 
niornino: of the l.'Uh the battle be<>an in earnest. For three 
days it raged furiously, with occasional hdls in the storm, and 
\ aricd by a gun-boat attack on the Confederate land batteries. 
On the night of the 15th, Floyd and Pillow transferred their 
authority to General Buckner, who had been third in com- 
mand, and abandoned the field with a few troops. Next 
morning. General Buckner surrendered the Confederate army 
to Grant, and the Kentucky line of defense was exposed to 
attack, front, flank, and rear, and 
was no longer tenable. 

12. General J(dinston, however, 
had evacuated Bowling Green Feb- 
ruary 14th, and moved southward in 
time to pass Nashville before Gen- //^ 
eral Grant could intercept him there / / ^ 
or Buell attack him, with his power- 
ful Federal force, in front. 

13. Buell look possession of Nash- 
ville February 2r)th. On the 27th, 
Polk evacuated Colum])us and with- 
drew to Corinth, Mississippi, where 
his forces were united with those of 
Johnston. There was no longfer an ors^anization of armed 
Confederates in Kentucky. 

14. At Donelson, two regiments of Kentucky infantry, 
some companies of cavalry and a batter}' of artillery, fought 
on the southern side, Avhile two regiments of Kentucky infan- 
try fought in the army of General Grant. This was repeated, 
though on a far larger scale, in many subsequent engagements. 

15. In Kentucky, the legislature, besides providing a great 
force for the prosecution of war against the Confederate 
states, passed a war measure while these stirring events were 
going on well calculated to deter men who were not enrolled 
in either army from passing beyond the southern border and 

IG 



~~^^n^ 




^ 



LIEUTENANT-GENERAL 
SIMON B. BUCKNEIi, 

C. S. A. 



24:2 



YOUNO PKOTLK S HISTORY OF KKNTUCKY, 




MAJOR-GENERAL 
THO. J. WOOD, 

U. S. A. 



identifjMng themselves with the southern movement, though 
it proved in the end to have little effect. This was the expa- 
triation act — an official declaration that those who had gone 

into the Confederate army had for- 
feited their citizenship, which could 
not be restored except hy permission 
of the leo-islature. The governor 
vetoed this; but it was prompth^ 
passed by more than the necessary 
two-thirds vote, the objections of the 
governor notwithstanding;. 

16. During the spring and summer 
of l'SG2, the respective great armies 
with which Kentuckians were identi- 
fied fought on fields removed from 
tlie state — at Shiloh, Vicksburg, and 
Baton Eouge. 

17. General Bragg in connnand of the Confederate army 
of the Tennessee, after Ihe death of General Johnston at 
Shiloh, and the transfer of Beaure- 
gard to another field, planned an in- 
vasion of Kentucky ; and from about 
the last of August till some time in 
October there were again great armies 
confronting each other on Kentucky 
soil. 

18. Meanwhile, Gen. John II. 
Morgan, Avho achieved the distinction 
of being regarded as a mihtary genius 
— bold, dashing, full of resources, 
disconcerting his enemy by swift and 
unexpected movements — one of the 
great cavalry leaders of the war — 
made his first raid into Kentucky. In ISGO-Gl he was the 
captain of a state guard cavalry company at Lexington, com- 
posed of spirited young men, well-drilled, and for the most 




BRIGADIEK-GENEKAL 

JOHN H. MORGAN, 

C. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL AVAR. 



243 



part in .sympathy Avith the south. This company maintained 
its oriifani/ation while most of those that composed the guard 
were breaking up and their members allying themselves, as 
individuals, with one or the other of the contending sections. 
Early in the autumn of 1861 he eluded the state and Federal 
troops and joined the southern army at Bowding Green. 
During the next nine months he did active and ethcient serv- 
ice in connection with that army, scouting, covering its front 
as outguard, developing the enemj^, and fighting him to pro- 
tect the Confederate flanks. The fame of his achievements 
attracted the young men of Kentucky 
and Tennessee to his standard ; and by 
June, 1862, he was in command of 
about eio-ht hundred darinjr riders. 

10. Starting from Knoxville, July 
4th, 18(52, he reached Tompkinsville 
on the ()th and defeated a small Fed- 
eral force there; passed by way of J' 
Glasgow to Bear Wallow, where an, 
expert operator Avhom he kept in his 
service, employed the new device of 
using the telegraph to mislead Federal 
officers and prevent them from over- 
whelming his comnuind as he moved 

northward. At New Hope, in Nelson county, he encountered 
opposition and a temporary check, but on the 12th he captured 
Lebanon with the small garrison stationed there. Moving 
through Springfield, llarrodsburgh, Lawrenceburgh, Versailles, 
and Midway to Georgetown, skirmishing- occasionally and 
using the telegraph as occasion offered, tearing up the rail- 
ways, and burning bridges, he captured Georgetowai. Thence 
his march w^as to Cynthiana, where, on the 17th of July, he 
encountered a force of home guards and a newly organized 
regiment, under command of Col. John J. Landrum. After 
severe fighting, in which each side lost about sixty in killed 




BRIGADIER-GENERAL 

GREEN CLAY SMITH, 

U. S. A. 



244 



YOUNG PEOI'LE's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



and wounded, Morgiin captured the j)lac'e and dcf^troyed a 
large amount of government property. A superior force of 
Kentucky cavalry under Gen. Green Clay Smith and Col. Frank 
Wolford now prepared to assail him and he Avas compelled to 
retreat rapidly into east Tennessee. In twenty-four days he 
had marched more than a thousand miles, taken seventeen 
towns, captured and paroled about twelve hundred soldiers, 
destro3^ed supplies and munitions of war to the amount of a 
million of dollars, and kept busy in lighting, pursuing anclguard- 
ing against him more than twenty times as many armed men 

as he had on the expedition. His loss 
in killed and wounded was ninety. 

20. During the summer General 
Bragg, at Chattanooga, had organized 
an army of about 45,000 men for the 
invasion of Kentucky. Gen. E. Kirby 
Smith, with headquarters at Knox- 
ville, Tennessee, was in command of 
1"),000 men of this force. General 
Morgan was sent forward to In'eak up 
the railroad between Nashville and 
Bowling Green and otherwise obstruct 
the advance of the Federal army under 
General Buell, then between Mur- 
freesboro and Nashville — deceived as to Bragg' s purpose and 
expecting an attack in Tennessee. Disposing part of his force 
under General Stevenson in observation of Cumberland Gap, 
General Smith entered Kentucky through Big Creek Gap 
towards the last of August, with about 12,000 men. Leaving 
5,000 under General Heth, to move after him more delib- 
erately, he made a rapid march for Richmond, Kentucky, with 
the remainder of the army. On the 23rd of August, there Avas 
a severe cavalry engagement at Big Hill, in Rockcastle countA% 
resulting in the defeat of the Federal troops. At Richmond 
was a Federal force of about 8,000 men, under command of 




MAJOR-GENEKAL 

WM. NELSON, 

U. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IX THE CIVIL WAR. 



24r) 



Gen. William Nelson, who, however, was in Lcxintrton — the 
eoinmand devolving for the time on Colonel Manson. In the 
ironoral battle that followed at Eichmond (August 8()th, l.S()2), 
the Federal forces, after a gallant resistance, were defeated, 
with a loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, of about 5,000, 
Smith's killed and wounded were nine hundred and fifty. The 
Federals who escaped retreated to Lexington, and thence, 
with about 1,500 men who were stationed there, fell back 
towards the Ohio. Other detachments of Federal troops, east 
of Louisville, retreated across the 
river. 

21. On Sunday night, August 31st, /A 
the legislature met in extraordinary 
session, transacted someordinarvbusi- 
ness, and adjourned to meet in Louis- 
ville September 2nd, carrying the 
state archives with them, in accord- 
ance with a previous act providing for 
such an emergency. 

22. September 1st, Kirby Smith's 
immediate command reached Lexing- 
ton; General Heth, with his 5,000 
men, soon joined him ; and General 
Morgan, having come from Tennes- 
see in advance of Bragg* s main army, reported to Smith for 
duty, September 4th. 

2.*$. The Federal general, George Morgan, was at Cumber- 
land Gap with 8,000 men. Smith, as noted previously, had 
left General Stevenson south of the Gap to observe Morgan, 
and attack him in case of his making an effort to fall back and 
connect with Federal forces northward. Gen, Humphrey 
^larshall was at Mt, Sterling with his command of cavalry, in 
position to strike his flank, but he was without definite orders. 
General Morgan (George) withdrew from the Gap and had 
reached Campton, in Wolfe county, unmolested, when he found 




MAJOR-GENERAL 
DON CARLOS BUELL, 

U. S. A. 



24() 



YOUNG people's HISTORY OP KENTUCKY. 



Gen. John II. Morgan in his front, but without sufficient force 
to fight him effectively or materially to delay his onward 
movement. 

a-l. It had been contemplated that Stevenson would follow 
closely and that Marshall would attack the Federal left flank, 
so that his capture would be certain ; but the only opposition 
came from Morgan's cavalry, and the Federal command suc- 
ceeded in reaching Greenupsburg with little loss — having 
marched about two hundred miles in sixteen days, through a 
mountainous country, and being harassed from Campton to 

Gra3^son by Confederate cavalry ; but 
his men had suffered much from hard 
travel over rough roads, from anxiety 
and watching and fighting, and from 
lack of food. When they reached the 
Ohio they were almost naked and 
barefoot, as well as worn out. 

25. Bragg had left Chattanooga Sep- 
tember 5th, with 30,000 men. Threat- 
ening Nashville in order to deceive 
General Buell as to his real design, he 
then turned to the right and came into 
Kentucky by w^ay of Carthage, Ten- 
nessee. On the 12th of September he 
was at Glasgow, while Buell was yet below Bowling Green. 
The only serious obstacle between him and Louisville was a 
Federal garrison of 3,500 men, under General Wilder, at 
Munfordville. On the 14th this was attacked, but the Con- 
federates were 'repulsed. The attack was successfully renewed 
on the IGth, and General Wilder surrendered. 

26. By this time Bragg had been considerably re-enforced 
by Kentuckians who seized the opportunity of taking service 
in a campaign which seemed then full of promise. The forces 
under his inmiediate command were probably equal to those 
under General Buell. Smith was in central Kentucky with 




BRIGADIER-GENERAL 

SAMUEL W. PRICE, 

U. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



247 



the men who had won Eichniond, with Generul Heth's 5,000 
now up; and Morijan's and Marshall's cavalry commands were 
within easy reach of the Ohio river or of the point where 
Bratjg lay between Buell and Louisville; but in a few days 
BraiTg abandoned his strong position in front of Buell, moved 
to Bardstown, and allowed the Federal general to march to 
Louisville without a fight, where he arrived September 2.3th. 
By this time re-enforcements for the Federal army were rap- 
idly concentrating, and in a short time Buell had at his dis- 
l)osition and a\'ailable for the defense of Kentucky about 
100,000 men. Bragg's troops were 
in the main disposed along a line 
extending from Bardstown to Mt. 
Sterling. 

27. Meanwhile, Smith had sent 
Ileth along the Kentucky Central to 
the vicinity of Covington to threaten 
Cincinnati; but though that city was 
for a time in imminent danger it was 
soon put in a fair state of defense, 
and Bragg was not in })osition to pur- 
sue advantages or to direct his sub- 
ordinate judiciously. 

28. There were numerous minor 
engagements during September — for 

the most part disconnected, and having no relation to a ]:)lan 
of battle on a conmianding scale. 

21>. One ineffectual attempt was made by Confederates 
to cross the Ohio river forty miles above Cincinnati, to 
threaten that city in the rear. September 27th, Colonel 
(afterward General) Basil Duke, of jSIorgan's cavalry, with 
about four hundred men and some light tield-pieces, attempted 
to effect a crossing at Augusta. Two extemporized gun-boats 
were quickly driven off by the tire of Duke's little howitzers; 
but he was atta<kcd by about one hundred home guards 




BRIGADIEU-GENEKAL 

GEO. B. COSBY, 

C. S. A. 



248 



YOUNG PEOPLE .S ]IISTORV OF KENTUCKV 



commanded bv Dr. Joshua T. Bradford, who foutiht from 
house to house in the town, for .several hours, l)oth sides 
eno-ao-ino- with such ferocity that about fifty of the Confed- 
erates were killed and wounded, among whom were three cap- 
tains and six lieutenants ; and the Federals left unhurt were 
compelled to surrender only after they were disloged by burn- 
ing the houses where they were posted. 

30. On the 1st of October General Buell marched out of 
Louisville and assumed the offensive. He had at his imme- 
diate disposition about 70,000 men of all arms. He and Bragg 

now began a series of movements 
which resulted (October 8th) in a 
great battle near Perryville, in Boyle 
county. 

31. Neither commander was thor- 
oughly advised as to the position of 
his adversary, and when the battle 
opened, a little after noon of that 
day, their respective forces were not 
massed at the point where the engage- 
ment occurred, and there were upon 
the field but about 16,000 Confeder- 
ates and about 25,000 Federals — the 
latter under the innnediate command 
of Gen. Alexander McCook, the 
former under that of Gen. Wm. J. Hardee. While the Federal 
arm}^ in doubt as to whether the advantage lay with them or 
their enemy, were waiting for the corps of Gen. Thomas L. 
Crittenden, one corps of Confederates, commanded by Gen- 
eral Polk, brous^ht on the euijaorement by a vigorous attack. 
The battle raged till nightfall, and for the time occupied was 
one of the most desperately contested of the war. "This bat- 
tle," said General Buell, "will stand conspicuous for its 
severity." The Federal loss in killed, wounded, and missing 
was4,3(M; that of the Confederates, 3,396. The Kentuckians 




BRIGADIER-GENERAL 

JAMES S. JACKSON, 

U. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IX TlIK flVlL AVAR. 



249 



engaged in this great battle were mainly those belonging to 
the Federal annj. Bragg had left all his veteran Kentucky 
infantry in Mississippi, bringing back to aid in taking posses- 
sion of their state only the cavalry of Morgan and Helm's old 
reiiimciit. Among: the Federal Kentuckians killed was Gen. 
James IS. Jackson, who fell in front of his troops, trying to 
rally and lead forward a broken line. 

32. Night put an end to the conflict, with some ground 
gained by the Federal army, but nothing decisive accom- 
l)lished. Next day Bragg withdrew towards Harrodsburgh. 
Near this place, the two armies, greatly 
increased liy a concentration of their 
hitherto scattered forces faced each 
other again ; but Bragg declined to risk 
another battle and retreated from the 
state, carrying innnense su[)plies for 
his army, but no substantial fruits of 
victory. Kentucky was not again in- 
vaded by any formidable Confederate 
force. 

:J3. For a time after the attack on 
Kichmond and the advance of Bragg's 
main army to Munfordville, there was 
wikl excitement in Kentucky and along 
its northern border. L seemed that he would beat Buell and 
make good his footing. News of Lee's successes on the Poto- 
mac had reached the people, and those who were in sympathy 
with the Confederate cause were elated at the prospect of a 
termination of the war in favor of the southern arms. The 
I'nion people were of course proportionately depressed. At 
Fraidvfort, while a Confederate force held that city, Richard 
llawes was inaugurated governor of Kentucky (October 4tli) 
under the })rovisional government created at Russellville, in 
place of George W. Johnson, killed at Shiloh. Since Bragg's 
success was apparently not yet, impossible, it was deemed 




HRIGADIKK-GENERAL 

GEO. B. HODGE, 

C. S. A. 



2.50 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

iin})()rtant to have the f rame-AVork of a, state government ready 
to assume the administration of civil affairs. The ceremonies 
were hardly completed, however, before a detachment of 
Buell's army was in sight, and the Confederate troops were 
retirino- before it. The campaign, of which the adherents to 
the southern cause had expected so much, and from which the 
adherents to the Federal cause apprehended disaster to the 
Union, had ended in mortifying failure. 




KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



251 



On the 



CHAPTEE XVI. 

KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR: FROM BRAGG's RETREAT TO 
THE CLOSE. 

1. When Bragg was well out of Kentucky, the Federal 
army, now under command of General Rosecrans, marched to 
Nashville, to prevent him from turning upon the garrison 
there. 

2. Bragg concentrated his army at Murfreesboro. 
22nd of December (18(J2), General 
Morgan set out on another expedition 
to Kentucky at the head of 3,000 men, 
to break up lines of transportation 
and cripple the plans of the Federal 
general at Nashville. The garrisons 
of comparatively raw troops which 
had been left to guard important 
points were unable to check Morgan's 
veterans, and he captured Glasgow 
and Elizabethtown. lie was ])ursued 
as he continued his march towards 
Louisville, but pushed on and capt- 
ured the block-houses protecting the 
bridges at Muldraugh's Hill, burned the trestle-work, and tore 
up the track. Along this road he destroj^ed more than 2,000 
feet of bridges. December 28th, a detachment of his com- 
mand (about 800 men), while crossing the Rolling Fork was 
attacked by 7,000 Federal troops under General Harlan and 
suffered sonu^ loss, but made skillful and resolute defense and 
escaped capture. 

3. The main object of the expedition having been accom- 
plished, he turned towards Bardstown, and thence nuide a 
swift and safe retreat into Tennessee. 




GENERAL 
JNO. M. HARLAN, 

Judge U. S. Supreme Court. 



'it)^ 



YOUNG people's HISTOEY OF KENTUCKY. 



4. As a counter-check to these raids, Federal officers began 
now to adopt Morgan's plan of swift and unexpected invasion, 
as applied to southern territory. On the 2ath of December, 
while Morgan was yet in the state, General Carter set out from 
Winchester, Kentucky, with eleven hundred picked cavalrymen 
and made his way, over a difficult route, to the valley of the Hol- 
ston in Tennessee; surprised and captured a garrison of three 
hundred men under a Major McDowell, at Blountsville, and 
made such destruction of the track and bridges of the Ten- 
nessee and Virginia Railroad as rendered it useless for months. 

5. The great battle of Stone River 
occurred about the time these brill- 
iant cavalry dashes terminated, and 
in this thousands of Kentucky soldiers 
faced each other. Soon afterward, 
part of ]\Iorgan"s command re-entered 
the state. In March, I860, a brigade 
under Colonel Cluke defeated a Fed- 
eral force of five hundred at Mt. 
Sterling (March 22nd), captured army 
supplies, and destroyed some railway 
trains, but was defeated (March 30th) 
by Kentucky cavalry under Colonel 
Walker, and retired from the state. 
6. About the same time General Pegrani with two thou- 
sand six hundred men made a raid without important results. 
Before reaching Danville he encountered Wolford's Kentucky 
cavalry, over which he obtained a temporary advantage, but 
soon retreated to Dutton Ilill, in Pulaski county, where he was 
attacked and defeated with severe loss by a much smaller 
force under General Q. A. Gilmore. There was fighting in 
Lawrence county between the troops of General Marshall and 
General White, in which White was repulsed. May 11th, 
the Ninth Kentucky Federal Cavalry was defeated in Wayne 
county by a part of Morgan's command; and some time dur- 




BlUGADIER-GENERAL 

KOGER W. HANSON, 

C. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IX TIIK CIVIL WAK 



253 



iiii; the spring some Confederate cavalry under Cu})t. Pete 
Everett, after a raid on Maysville, was defeated near ]\Iore- 
head, Kentucky, with a loss of forty men, by a regiment of 
mounted Kentuckians. 

7. In June, 1863, General Morgan started on his famous 
raid through Indiana and Ohio. Crossing the Cumberland 
river near Burksville, with between three and four thousand 
men, he met with no serious ojiposition till after he had passed 
through Columbia. At Green river bridge, on the road to 
Lebanon, a detachment of his troops was repulsed, with the 
loss of about a hundred men, b}' a regiment four hundred 
strong under Colonel Moore of the 
Twenty-fifth Michigan. Among the 
killed were some of his al)le otiicers. 
lie captured the garrison at Lcljanon, 
July oth — about three hundred men 
of the Twentieth Kentucky, but only 
after a severe fight in which his loss 
was about fifty. At Bards town, 
twenty-six Federal soldiers intrenched 
in a barn resisted for several hours 
a detachment sent against them, and 
were dislodged onl}' after artillery was 
brought to bear on them. 

8. At Brandenburgh he captured 
two steamers, in which he crossed into Indiana. Followed 
closely by Kentucky Federal cavalry under Bristow, Ilobson, 
and Shackleford, and beset on all sides by troops hastily col- 
lected, he made a wide circuit through Indiana into Ohio, in the 
rear of Cincinnati, by which time his pursuers had increased to 
many thousands, but were unable to effect his capture. Proceed- 
ing eastward, with a view to re-crossing the Ohio at the first 
available point, but finding this impracticable, by reason of gun- 
boats in the river and troops pressing on his rear, he came 
opposite Buffington Island, netir the mouth of the Kanawha, 
on the 18th of July, and tried to force a passage. By this 




BUIGADIER-GENEHAL 

ED H. UOBSON, 

IT. S. A. 



254 



YOUN(J I'EOrLE S HISTORY OF KKNTUCKY. 



time their ride of eleven hundred miles in about ten days had 
exhausted the men and they were unable to make effectual 
resistance. Some companies surrendered. Others tried to 
swim the river, but some of these were killed in the water and 
the oreater part captured. Four companies succeeded in 
reachinjj the Viriiinia shore. Morgan, who remained Avith 
part of the force on the north side, seeing the hopelessness of 
the attempt to cross, now contiiuied with these the march up 
the river ; but on the 2()th they were surrounded and forced to 
surrender. They were granted honorable terms, but the 
agreement was disregarded by the authorities, and the gen- 
eral, with a number of his officers, 
w^as confined in the penitentiary at Co- 
lumbus, Ohio. A remarkable scheme 
to escape w^as conceived, however, 
\ and successfully executed as to part of 
\ them. Through a passageway, cut 
through the floor of a cell and under 
Mi|i the prison wall. General Morgan and 
t. six of his captains, Bennett, Hines, 
Hockersmith, McGhee, Sheldon, and 
Taylor, made their w^ay out (Novem- 
ber 28th, 18Go), and escaped into 
Kentucky, and all but two got through 
to the south. The rest were after- 
ward transferred to other prisons and finally exchanged. 

9. In March, 1864, General Forrest, with his cavalry corps, 
came into western Kentucky. With his escort and Buford's 
division of mounted Kentuckians, and some Tennesseeans, in 
advance of his main force, he reached the city about two 
o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th, and dashed in. General 
Hicks, in command of the garrison,' numbering from seven hun- 
dred to a thousand men, speedily took position in Fort Anderson, 
a strong redoubt, supplied with artillery, and supported by 
two gun-boats h'ing alongside the city. The Kentuckians, 
about four hundred in numljer, under command of Col, 




iiKKiADIKK-GLNLRAL 
ABRAHAM BUFORL), 

C. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IX THE CIVIL AVAIi. 255 

Albert P. Thompson, made a desperate attack upon this fort 
but were met with destructive volleys from small arms and 
artilleiy and at length forced to take shelter in the houses, 
from the upper stories and roofs of which the survivors of the 
furious attack fired over the ]);irapcts until ordered by Forrest 
to Avilhdraw. Among the killed was Colonel Thompson, who, 
leading the assaulting column, was torn to pieces by a cannon 
shot. Notwithstanding this repulse Forrest held the city till 
eleven o'clock that night. He retired, after having compelled 
the gun-boats to seek shelter under the fort, destroyed a gov- 
ernment steamer, a railroad depot and much rolling stock, 
and a large amount of Avar material, and taken fifty prisoners. 

10. In June, 18G4:, General Morg-an being again in com- 
mand of his re-organized old troops and some others, came 
into Kentucky at Pound Gap, with two thousand five hundred 
men and made another attempt to cripple the operations of 
the Federal army in the south by interfering with its lines of 
supplies and communication. He captured Mt. Sterling, 
fought at Lexington with a part of his force with but partial 
success ; operated unsuccessfully, with another detachment, 
against Frankfort, while his main body was engaged at Cyn- 
thiana. Here he captured a train bearing several hundred Fed- 
eral troops ; but the toAvn was defended by home guards which 
made fierce resistance. By the time the town was taken, a 
large part of it was burned and both sides had suffered 
greatly. By the 12th of June a strong force of Federal 
troops was u[)on him, and after an hour's fighting and a heavy 
loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners, he was compelled to 
re-assemble his detachments and fall back rapidly into south- 
western Virginia. 

11. On the 3rd of September, 1864, his troops were 
encani[)cd near Greenville, Tennessee. Next morning they 
were siu-prised; his headquarters in town were surrounded ; 
antl finding effectual resistance impossible, he passed into the 



2r)() Y()liN(J riOOl'LF/s HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

garden to escape, but was tlun'o shot and killed, (icnoral 
Duke su('(M'ed(Hl to the coniinaiid. 

lU. AVhen llood advanced on Nashville (November, i<S(i4), 
General Lyon, then in command of a small brigade of Ken- 
tucky cavahy, Avas sent into Kentucky to create a diversion in 
his favor. He continued his operations in Kentucky and on 
the borders until the spring of 1<S65. In December, 18(54, he 
sent a detachment under command of Colonel Chenoweth to 
break direct connection between Louisville and the army of 
General Thomas at Nashville. On this expedition Chenoweth 
burned the Nolin bridge on the Louisville and Nashville Rail- 
road and captured a train of cars loaded with Federal soldiers. 
Lyon's raid was the last one made in force. There were many 
smaller affairs than those which we have noticed, occurring at 
various times during the last two or three years of the war ; 
but they were of no real significance and had little effect 
except to annoy. 

13. But it was not from invasion hy great armies and dash- 
ing expeditions of regularly organized cavalry that Kentucky's 
chief suffering came during those years. War is cruel, wher- 
ever waged ; but American armies have always been singularly 
free from those shocking^ and inexcusable barbarities that are 
forbidden by the rules of civilized Avarfare. But every time 
of great and long-lasting public disturbance brings into promi- 
nence some vicious characters, who, in the absence of the 
law's restraints, become dangerous to society. 

14. Especially during the last two years of the war, the 
people of Kentucky were subjected to outrages by small 
predatory bands of armed men, calling themselves, in some 
instances, partisan rangers, but being in fact guerillas, giving 
allegiance to neither the Federal or Confedera e power, and 
unrecognized, uncontrolled, by either. The Confederate 
government repudiated and condemned their acts and ordered 
those under its authority to regard them as the enemies of 
mankind; and the Federal authority, in control of the tern- 



KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 257 

toiy in which they operated, treated them as outlaws. In 
some instances they were led by men who made a pretext of 
havintj grievous personal wrongs, inflicted by eitlier Union or 
Confederal e sympathizers, to avenge, and who claimed to be 
justifiable in killing those whom they considered enemies, and 
in committing other violence. In general, they were deserters 
from the armies; but they attracted to them many who had 
not been soldiers, and whose sole object was pillage. 

15. Another circumstance was full of mischief; namely, 
the interference of the military with the civil authorities. 
This created great dissatisfaction ; was the cause of uneasi- 
ness and suffering ; was accompanied in many instances with 
high-handed outrage; and was in general condemned by those 
who had loyally supported the government of the United 
States, as soldiers, as civil officers, as quiet and law-abiding 
citizens. 

16. It is proper to notice now the main facts as to military 
rule during this period. That you may understand fully the 
grounds of complaint against the military authorities and how 
reasonable it was that the people of Kentucky were at times deeply 
incensed, and at times outspoken in opposition to certain war 
measures and the men who administered them, it is important 
to observe that after the early autumn of 1861, the state was 
unequivocally committed to the Union policy, and that the 
machinery of government was substantially under the control 
of the Conservative Union party — of men who were known 
during those times as War Democrats. 

17. Governor Magoffin, it is true, was in sympathy with 
the southern movement; he was unalterably opposed to the 
Federal policy of coercion ; but he was equally as unalterably 
opposed to any revolutionary action on the part of Kentucky. 
Whatever was to be done, he insisted, must be done under 
forms of law. As governor he executed the laws as he found 
them, with due regard to his oath of office and a manly 

17 



258 



YOUNG TEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



cleterinination neither to evade responsibility nor iro l)(•^'ond 
his autliority. 

18. When opposed to measures which an o})})osition leiris- 
lature enacted, he interposed his veto; Avhen they became 
hiws in spite of his veto he recognized them as l)inding on 
him. When his self-respect and the public good seemed to 
demand it, he resigned (August 18th, 1862) in favor of a 
man whose views were more in accordance with those of the 
Gener;d Asseml)ly, and who would pr(^bably bring about more 
agreeable relations between the military and civil arm. 

19. It should be- borne in mind 
that for a long time every demand 
made on Kentucky by the United 
States for men and munitions of war 
had been promptly and fully met. 
Further, that there had been such a 
respect for law and order throughout 
all the trying period that neither the 
soutlK'rn nor the Union element had 
sought to institute violent and insur- 
rectionary proceedings ; but had waited 
with singular patience for that ac- 
tion which would connnit the state to 
something definite and authoritative. 
Notwithstanding all this, the war office at Washington deemed 
it necessary to take steps wdiich subordinated the civil power 
in Kentucky to that of the military. June 1st, 1862, 
Gen. Jeremiah T. Boyle was made chief commandant, with 
headquarters at Louisville, under orders from the Secre- 
tary of War to enforce an arbitrary and stringent polic3\ 
Provost marshals were appointed in every county ; and in many 
instances the rule of these men was as annoying and injurious 
to loyal citizens as to those whom it w^as the object of the leg- 
islature as well as the military power to restrain and punish. 




BRIGADIER-GKNERAL 

J. T. HOYLE, 

U. 8. A. 



KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL MAR. 



251) 



20. By an act of the General Assembly and by order of the 
War Department, they were authorized to exercise control 
over private opinions as well as of overt acts. Jurymen, school 
conimissionors, examiners, teachers, college professors, and 
ministers of the gospel who wished to perform the marriage 
rite, were recjuired to swear to their loyalty, present and 
future; and all who had given aid and comfort to the Confed- 
erates or had returned to the state after going south beyond 
the lines were compelled to take the oath of allegiance to the 
United States and give bond, under ])enalty of punishment 
according to the laws of war. If the 
property of loyal citizens should be 
takoi or injured by guerillas or by 
regular Confederate troops raiding 
through the state, southern sympa- 
thizers were to be assessed for the 



payment of damages — the innocent \v^. 




GOVERNOR 
JAMES F. ROBINSON. 



nuist suffer for the guilty. 

21. Ill-disposed and spiteful people 
seized the occasion to Avreak ven- 
geance on those Avhom they regarded \ 
with disfavor; and for a long time 
there was a virtual reign of terror in 
the commonwealth. Many promi- 
nent men had been arrested and im- 
prisoned previous to the adoption of the severe policy carried 
out under martial law. Now there were increased arrests, 
imprisonments, banishment (women and non-combatants being 
among those thus severely dealt with), assessments for dam- 
ages, and acts of violence growing out of the disordered state 
of society rather than from the direct exercise of the military 
power. 

22. The chief executive who had succeeded Governor 
Magotiin (James F. Robinson, of Scott county), was an able, 
prudent, and conservative man, thoroughly loyal to the United 



2(;() 



YOUNG TKOPLk'S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



States ijoveriiinont iiiul (lisj)()se(l to execute the laws in accord- 
ance with the best interests of his people and for the success 
of Union arms; but during his short term of little more than 
a year his power for good was exceedingly limited. 

23. Kentucky had early obtained the solemn assurance of 
the government at Washington that the war was to be Avaged 
to maintain the Union and not to meddle with slavery. The 
people of this state relied upon the promise. The lo3^al posi- 
tion which they had assumed with this view justified them in 
believing that they would be exempt from whatever pains and 

penalties might ])e inflicted on the 
seceded states. Their slave property 
was worth more than a hundred mil- 
lion of dollars; and as they were 
bearing their full share of expenses 
to carry on the war, they had no 
thought that their property rights 
would be disregarded ; but when the 
proclamation of January 1st, 1863, 
was issued, freeing all the slaves in 
the seceded states, it was clear that 
its practical application was to destroy 
slavery in Kentucky and Avithout 
compensation. This gave such of- 
fense to even the most devoted Union 
men that many protested boldly and withdrew their voluntary 
support. 

2-t. July 31st, 18(33, martial law was formally declared in 
Kentucky for "protecting the rights of loyal citizens and the 
freedom of elections." At the ensuinsr election f or o^overnor 
and other state officers and congressmen (August 3rd) the 
polls were guarded by soldiers, though the real Union men 
were greatly in the majority, and the result would doubtless 
have been the same with an untrammelled vote. 




BRIGADIER AND BREVET 

MAJOR-GENKRAI, 

JNO. T. CROXTON, 

U. S. A. 



KKNTICKV IN TIIK CIVIL WAR. 2(51 

25. Boyle was relieved of his coiuniaiid as provost marshal 
of Kentucky (January 12th, 1864) and resigned his commis- 
sion. He was succeeded (Fel)ruary I'jth) by a commandant 
whose rule was marked bv severitv exceedinjr his orders and 
was condennied hy all reasonable and just men, irrespective of 
Union or secession sentiments. On the 16th of July, 1864, 
an order was issued that when a citizen was killed by guerillas, 
four guerilla prisoners should be carried to the place where 
the killing was done and shot to death. Under this order 
many Confederate soldiers, as well as marauders, were executed 
without even the pretense of a trial. Innocent men were made 
to suffer for deeds for which they were in no way responsible. 
The election of this year was interfered with by extensive 
arrests, by forbiddding the name of a candidate for Appellate 
Judge of the Second District to be entered on the poll-books, 
and by stationing troops at the voting places. Other arbitrary 
acts and usurpation of authority, cruel, unjust, and unneces- 
sary, were so flagrant as to provoke bitterness between Gov- 
ernor Bramlette (who was elected to that office in 1863), as 
well as other civil ofiicers, and the military authorities; and 
Union men of all shades of opinion had cause to complain that 
the Avar to whose honorable })rosecution they had committed 
themselves was about to bring about, in their own state, a 
thorough subversion of civil government. An instance of 
notable disregard of the loyal civil power in Kentucky was fur- 
nished by the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, that 
protection to })ersonal liberty. On the 5th of July, 1864, the 
president, alleging alarm because of the prevalence of guerilla 
raids in the state, proclaimed a suspension of this privilege 
and renewed the declaration of martial law. The writ was 
suspended also in Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and 
Missouri, but about eight months after the close of the war 
(November oOth, 1865) it was restored to those states, while 
refused to Kentucky, which was left under this disability for 
months afterward. The views and feelings of the pe()})le 



2(V2 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 




BKIGAUIER-GENERAL 

SPEED S. FKY, 

U. S. A. 



I'clnlivo to the gciicnil w:ir ])()li('y of the goveriiDU'iit were 
cniphaticallj expressed at the presidential election of Novem- 
ber, 1>!G4. Martial law was in force, 
and the polls were guarded against 
all but recognized loyal men ; but 
McClellan, the Democratic candidate, 
received a majority of more than 
8,(300 over Lincoln. 

26. In western Kentucky, one Gen. 
E. A. Paine, with whom were associated 
several subordinates of like character, 
committed such deeds of extreme cru- 
elty and extortion that Gen. Speed Fry 
and Col. John Mason Brown were sent 
to investigate charges. They made 
such a report of deeds perpetrated by 
these monsters as to cause their re- 
moval and expose them to the execration of mankind. 

27. When the United States began in Kentuckv the enlist- 
ment of negro soldiers (early in 
March, 18(34) there was indignation 
and protest. Even the Union men 
in general denounced the measure, 
and some were so violent in their 
expression as to provoke arrest on 
charges of disloyalty and sedition. 
Among those who made public 
speeches against this policy and pro- 
nounced it unconstitutional, unjust, 
and a usurpation of power, were Gen. 
Frank Wolford, and Col. Richard T. 
Jacob (the latter then lieutenant- 
governor of the state). They were 
gallant soldiers of the Union army and had fought to main- 
tain what they believed to be the lawful power of the United 
States ; but they were now placed under military arrest. 




BKIGADIEK-GENERAL 

BEN HAR1>IN HELM, 

C. S. A. 



KKXTrCKV IX THK CIVIL AVAR. 



2(;3 




BUIGADIEK AND BREVET 

MAJOR-GENERAL 

W. T. WARD, 

U. S. A. 



28. After two years of harsh and often cruel mihtary ruk' 
and much antagonism between the eivil authorities, the evi) 
was in a measure removed hy the ap- 
pointment of Gen. John M. Pahner 
as commandant of the department 
(February, I'Sd:)). 

29. When the war ch)sed (April, 
18().')) at least thirty thousand of the 
soldiers of Kentucky hiy dead upon 
the numy battle-fields of ten or twelve 
states, and in the buryin_g grounds of 
prisons and hospitals where they had 
died of wounds or disease. Thousands 
more were cri[)pled or injured in health 
by their long and exacting service. 

SO. The survivors came back to 
begin life anew; and in this new life 
was a manifestation of the Kentucky character which showed 
that among a pe()i)le of independent and warlike spirit is to 
s^,<««s?*v, be found the best type of citizen as 

well as soldier. When the Confed- 
erate Kentuckians laid down their 
arms and returned to the state, neither 
the people nor the Federal soldiers 
received them with the insolence of 
ungenerous victors, but with the wel- 
come accorded to friends come home 
and kindred restored to their own. 
Of course, some animosities had been 
engendered which could not be at 
once forgotten, and antagonisms cre- 
ated not readily laid aside, which 
brought about occasional personal en- 
counters and acts of violence; but these were the very few 
disagreeable exceptions to a no])le rule. The men of Kentucky 




BRIGAIiIEK AND BRKVET 

MA.IOR-GENERAL 

WALTER C. WHITTAKER, 

U. S. A. 



2()4 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



who had enlisted under different banners liad served with a de- 
votion and fought with a vah)r worthy of the name they bore. 
At Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Richmond, 
Munfordville, Perryville, Stone River, Chiekaniauga, Mission 
Ridge, in the hundred and twenty days of ahnost constant fight- 
ing from Dahon to Jonesboro, on the numerous fields where 
Wheeler, Forrest, Morgan, and other cavalry leaders had as- 
sailed the Federal forces front and rear, they had met each 
other in fierce conflict; but now with them the war was over. 
They w^ere neighbors and friends again, and went to work to- 
gether as though the storm that had swept them asunder had 
but taught them to respect each other the more and give them 
increased mutual interest in the fame of their native state. 

31. The first legislature that met after the return of the 
Confederate soldiers restored them to all the rights of citizen- 
ship by repealing the laws which had declared them aliens. 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

I. The American Citizen-Soldier. — The Hon. Alexander 

P. IIuni})hrey, in his response to the 
toast, "Isaac Shelby," at the Cen- 
tenary banquet, June 1st, 1892, said: 
"If there is one thing which has 
done more than an}^ other to make 
this republic strong, independent, 
and free, it is the readiness with 
which the American citizen becomes 
the American soldier, and the equal 
readiness with which the American 
soldier becomes the American citi- 
zen. To follow the arts of peace; 
to pursue it ; to shun war ; to make 
it the last resort ; if it come, to 
step from the plow to the ranks at 
a moment's call; when the war is 
over to have done with it, and to 
step out of the ranks back to the plow — such must be the 
conduct of a people who nre long to ])e free. The greatest 




BKIGADIER-GENEllAL 

ELI H. MURRAY, 

U. S. A. 



KENTUCKY IN THE CIVIL WAR. 



205 



examples of true trlorv ever _<;iven by the American people 
consist in the disbaiulment of the army of the revolution and 
of the army of the Union." 

II. General Officers Furnished by Kentucky to the Two 
Armies. — During the civil war, the following Kentuckian.s 
held or rose to the rank of general, in connnand of troops of 
their own or other states : 

In the Federal army — Maj. -Generals Don Carlos Buell, 
Thomas L. Crittenden, Lovell H. 
Rosseau, Cassius M. Clay, William 
Nelson, Thomas J. Wood, John M. 
Palmer, Ormsby M. Mitchell, and 
Frank P. Blair; Brigadier and Brevet 
Maj. -Generals Eobt. Anderson, AV. T. 
Ward, Richard W. Johnson, Walter 
C. Whittaker, John T. Croxton, and 
Eli Long; Brigadier-Generals Samuel 
W. Price, Speed S. Fry, Jerry T. 
Boyle, Green Clay Smith, Edward 
H. Hobson, James S. Jackson, T. T. 
Garrard, James W. Shackleford, W. 
P. Sanders, L. P. Watkins, John M. 
Harlan, Eli H. Murray, and Frank 
Wolford. 

In the Confederate army — General 
Albert Sidney Johnston; Lieut. -Generals Simon B. Buckner, 
Richard Taylor, and John B. Hood; Maj. -Generals John C. 
Breckinridge, George B. Crittenden, William Preston, Charles 
W. Field, and Gustavus W. Smith ; Brigadier-Generals John 
H. Morgan, Ben Hardin Helm, Humphrey Marshall, Roger 
W. Hanson, Basil W. Duke, Llovd Tilahman, Geo. B. Hodge, 
George B. Cosby, John S. Williams, Thomas H. Taylor, H. 
B. Lyon, Joseph H. Lewis, Richard S. Gano, Abraham Bu- 
ford, Adam R. Johnson, Stephen B. Maxey, Thomas J. 
Churchill, Jo. O. Shelby, N. B. Pearce, and Randall L. 
Gibson. 




MAJOR-GENERAL 

CHARLES W. FIELD, 

C. S. A. 



260 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



CHAPTER XVII. 



AFTER THE CIVIL AVAR, 

1. State and Federal action relative to the freedmen after 
the war closed is noticed in a subsequent chapter. 

2. At the August election of 1865 the returned Confederate 
soldiers did not attempt to vote. The disablino- acts passed 
by the legislature during the war had been declared unconsti- 
tutional ; but the men who were re- 
garded as disfranchised awaited their 
repeal. Those whose known synipa- 
thv with the south had led to dis- 
criminations against them by either 
the civil or the military power re- 
frained in some instances from goinof 
to the polls ; in others they were pre- 
vented from voting bv guards i)laced 
for that purpose by the Federal com- 
mandant, who still exercised authority. 

3. Of the two candidates for state 
treasurer, the one re})resenting the 
moderate or lil)eral Union party was 
elected. Of the candidates for Congress (then elected in August 
instead of November) five of the nine were of the moderate 
party; and to the General Assembly the liberals elected so 
many, notwithstanding a majority of the nineteen hold-over 
senators were extreme men, that they had on joint ballot 80 to 
f)S. It was made clear that the ])eople resented the interference 
of the military after the great armies which fought the battles 
had astonished the civilized world by quietly disbanding and 
returning to peaceful pursuits. 

4. This legislature met December 4th, 1865. On the 9th 
Governor Bramlette, in a special message, recommended the 




GOVERNOR 
THO. E. BRAMLETTE. 



AFTKR THK mil. WAR. 



2G7 




iii-!Hiting()f pnrdoii to all iiidictcd in tlio courts for acts of war; 
and by December 2()th not only was this done, but the expa- 
triation act, together with other severe 
measures against southern soldiers 
and sympathizers, were all repealed 
by constantly increasing majorities as 
this work of reconciliation Avent on. 

5. The financial affairs of the state 
had been conducted during the four 
years of war in such an honest, pru- 
dent and business-like way that on the 
return of peace the people were not 
subjected to the burden of increased ' 
taxation to meet reckless expenditure. 
Though the state debt at the begin- senator james guthrie. 
ning of the war was $3,030,518 (exclusive of $1,(398,716 of 
school bonds, on which interest was payable), and $4,095,314 

was borrowed for war purposes, the 
state wa« virtually out of debt in 1873. 
Her credit was good at all times, and 
her bonds were Avorth their face value 
even when the United States govern- 
ment could not procure loans except 
by greatly discounting its bonds. 

6. At the August election of 1867 
(the first held for state ofiicers after 
the war) candidates of three parties 
were before the people. The state 
had been freed of military control, 
and there was no longer any re- 
striction of the right of white adult citizens to vote. There 
was the liberal Union party, who opposed the Federal govern- 
ment's carpet-bag policy as to reconstruction, and had previ- 
ously opposed all its radical measures. This was now re- 
enforced by the great body of returned Confederate soldiers 




SENATOR THO. C. M'CREERY. 



268 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 




GOVERNOR JOHN L. HELM. 



{Hid other citizens who had held southern views. It was sub- 
stantially the old Democratic party of the state. On the 

other extreme were the radical Union 
men, Avho had l)een in sympathy Avith 
all the war measures of the Washing- 
ton government, and now stood aloof 
from a coalition with those lately in 
arms against the government. Op- 
posed to these extremes there was a 
third party, composed of conservative 
Union men (the Union Democratic 
party), who organized rather to test 
the strength of that element of the 
people who held their moderate views 
than with any hope of success at the 
polls. Of 137,331 votes cast, the Democratic candidates re- 
ceived more than 90,000, and the nine congressmen elected 
in the previous November were all 
Democrats. Before the next election 
for state otficers was held (1871) the 
Union Democratic party had disap- 
peared, while the colored men had been 
accorded the right to vote. The Dem- 
ocratic majority was reduced aljout 
20,000; but that party continued in 
uninterrupted possession of political 
power in the state until 1895. 

7. It must not be inferred, how- 
ever, that there was at this time or 
subsequently any prescriptive or in- 
tolerant party in the state — one that 

wished to keep alive the bitterness or perpetuate the ani- 
mosities engendered by the war. The radical Union or Re- 
publican state convention, May 17th, 1871, passed resolutions 
expressive of a desire for a restoration of friendly relations 




GOVERNOR AND SENATOR 
JOHN W. STEVENSON. 



AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 



269 




GOVLKNOR 
PRESTON H. LESLIE. 



with the peojile hitoly in arms against the national authority, 
and wishing them all the blessings and prosperity to be en- 
joyed under a Re])u])lican form of 
government; favoring also complete 
amnesty to all their fellow-citizens of 
every state who were laboring under 
disabilities by reason of any part 
taken in the war. 

8. A secret society which was or- 
ganized in the south after the war 
closed, known as the Ku-Klux Klan, 
for the protection, as it was claimed, 
of the people against irregularities and 
outrages conse<|uent upon the rule of 
an irresponsible class during the re- 
construction period, soon extended to Kentucky, and continued 
for several years to inflict speedy and often excessive pun- 
ishment upon those who were deemed 

^N^^^X^'J^'VV'^ o^^ty of offenses against society ; but 
s^^^ its acts speedily grew to be more dan- 

gerous than those of its victims. In 
5((5^ ^®j^^^ his message to the legislature of 1871- 
~ ' ' 72, Governor Leslie called attention 
to the character and conduct of the 
organization, and recommended strong 
measures for the suppression of all 
lawless associations. A law for this 
purpose was enacted, under the op- 
eration of which, and of public sen- 
timent strongly condemnatory, the 
clan soon ceased to exist. 

9. In September, 1873, began the most serious financial panic 
ever known in the United States, and business throughout the 
country was almost immediately paralyzed. An explanation of 
the causes and consequences of this remarkable disturbance 




SLNATOK 
WILLIS B. MACHEN. 



270 



YOUNG PEOrLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 




GOVERNOR 
JAMES B. M'CRKARV. 



belongs appropriately to the history of the United States for 
the ten or twelve years preceding. In Kentucky, the effect of 

the shock, which was first felt in the 
city of New York, was almost instan- 
taneous, and it continued with some 
severity for four or five years; but 
was far less disastrous here than in 
many other portions of the country. 

10. In 1854, provision was made 
for a geological survey, to ascertain 
the mineral resources of Kentucky 
and determine character of soils in 
the different sections, but this was 
discontinued in 1851). In 1873, the 
survey was re-established, and Prof. 
N. S. Shaler, now of Harvard Uni- 
versity, was appointed chief of a corps "to undertake and 
prosecute, with as much dispatch as may be consistent with 
minuteness and accuracy, a thorough 
geological, mineralogical, and chemi- 
cal survey of the state, to discover 
and examine all beds of ore, coal, 
clays, and such other mineral sub- 
stances as may be useful and valua- 
ble." It was continued until 1892 — 
under Professor Shaler till May, 1880, 
when he resigned and was succeeded 
by Prof. John R. Proctor. When the 
work was discontinued by act of the 
legislature, almost the entire surface 
of the state had been mapped, and 
the character of soil, timber, and underground deposits de- 
scribed, revealing a wealth of mineral and other resources 
hardly surpassed by those of any state in the Union. 




GOVERNOR 
LUKE p. BLACKBURN. 



AFTKK THE CIVIL WAR. 



271 



11. Further })r()visi()ii for the proiiiolioii of material pros- 
l)crity was made by the legishiture of l<s7")-7(). A Bureau of 
Agriculture, Horticulture, aud Sta- 
ti-stics was e.sta1)lished, which is still 
maintained ; and an act was passed 
to propagate and protect food 
fishes. 

12. Bv act of the legislature of 
I SS 1-82, a high court, to consist 
of three judges, Avas established, 
called the Superior Court, though 
having jurisdiction over the less 
important cases before the Court of 
Appeals. This was to exist four 
years, in order to relieve the Court 
of Appeals of business which had 
accunuilated beyond the power of the four judges to dispatch 
it; but su])se(juent acts continued it till it was abolished by the 

constitution of 1890-91. 

13. During the ten or twelve years 
preceding the close of this year ( 1896 ) 
few events having a special import- 
ance are to be chronicled except the 
1i\ changing of the constitution. Legis- 




GOVERNORJ. PROCTOR KNOTT. 




1 at ion regarded as meeting the de- 
mands of the times has received at- 
tention ; the interest and excitement 
attendant upon state and United States 
elections have come and gone at their 
stated intervals, as in other like pe- 
riods ; and the general social and 
business life of the state has been 
without the special features that would make a detailed account 
either entertaining or instructive to those who have been iden- 
tified with it. 



SENATOR WM. LINDSAY. 



272 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 



14. The attentive student Avill have noted that in 1892 
(which was also the four hundredth anniversarv of the dis- 
covery of America) Kentucky completed the iirst hundred 
years of statehood, during which time she had grown from 
small beginnings to be a great and populous commonwealth and 
borne a conspicuous part in all the prominent events of 
the republic. This centenary or hundredth anniversary was 
celebrated at Macauley's theater, in Louisville (Wednesday, 
June 1st, 1892), under the management of the Filson Club, 
in a beautiful, an intellectual, and every way most appro- 
priate manner. An account of the 
proceedings, with the papers read 
and the speeches delivered, has been 
published. They are an important 
contribution to the history of Ken- 
tuck}^ The citizens of Lexington, 
also, honored with fitting ceremonies 
this natal day. 

15. Soon after the Avar, when civil 
order was restored in Kentucky, the 
question of revising the constitution 
of 1849-50 began to be discussed. 
It lacked conformity to the consti- 
stitution of the United States, and the changed local condi- 
tions seemed to demand a new organic law ; but there were 
diificulties in the way of obtaining it. As indicated in another 
chapter, it was the purpose of the framers of the old consti- 
tution to make a revision very difficult, if not practicably 
impossible. To call a convention for this purpose required a 
majority of all citizens entitled to vote, instead of a majority 
of those voting. If it should be found at an election for that 
purpose that a majority of all entitled to vote were in favor of 
a convention, another election was to be held, to ascertain 
whether such a majority still favored a convention. 




SENATOR JAMES B. BECK. 



AFTER TlIK CIYIL WAR. 



27H 




SKNATOR 
J. C. S. BLACKBURN. 



IG. Prior to the session of ISSA-SC, the lotrisLiturc had 

passed three acts to take the sense of the i)eople on this 

(juestion, and at the three several 

elections the proposition failed be- 
cause the majority of all who voted 

was not a majority of all who were 

entitled to vote. 

17. The legislature of 1885-86 

solved the difficulty by providing for 

a registration of all the voters in the ^; 

commonwealth, and enacted that a 

nuijority of the registered voters 

should determine. At the August 

election of 1887 the vote for the first 

time under this act was taken. It 

resulted in a majority in favor of a convention. As required 

by the old constitution, the question was submitted a second 

time, August, 1889, and again car- 
ried. 

18. An act approved May ord, 
181)0, provided for the election of 

I a hundred delegates — one for each 
representative district — to meet Sep- 

I tember 8th, 1890. The convention 
continued in session till April 11th, 
1891. The constitution drafted was 
submitted to a vote of the people 
(August, 1890) and adopted bv a 
large majority. 

19. The changes were many and 
important, and deserve to be pointed 

out,* All state officers are made ineligible to re-election for 
the four years succeeding an expired term ; only one election 

*An abstract, with additions, of an address issued to the people, by 
a committee of eleven members of the convention appointed for that 
purpose. 

18 




GOVERNOR 
JNO. YOUNG BROWN. 



274 YOUN(! ri:<)!'LK's ihstouv of KKNTT'CKV. 

can ))c held in llu^ ,statc or any part thereof iu any one year; 
tlic time of election is changed from August to Noyendier; 
and the s^^stcnl of yoting by secret ballot is adoi)ted in place 
of voting by voice. «. 

20. Local and special legishition had grown under the old 
constitution to be a great and expensive eyil. A single session 
of the General Asseml)ly had sat one hundred and forty-nine 
daj's, costing the state $168,238, and the greater part of its 
work was the enactment of local or personal laws covering 
nearly five thousand octavo pages. The new constitution 
forbids local and special legislation where general laws can 
govern ; and limits sessions to sixty days. If sessions of this 
duration had been held during the ten years preceding the 
convention, nearly half a million of dollars would have been 
saved to the state. 

21. All charters are to be obtained under general laws ; 
lotteries are forbidden and the charters under which they 
operated are revoked; and no irrevocable charter for any 
purpose can be made, but all must be kept subject to the 
legislative will. 

23. ]\Iinor civil divisions, as counties and cities, are divided 
into classes and all of each class are subject to the same laws. 

23. State, county, and other governmental machinery is left 
practically unchanged ; but the number of magistrates is lim- 
ited to a maximum of eight in any county. 

24. To railroad and other corporations are granted all those 
rights and privileges which will justify them in developing the 
resources of the state; but checks are provided against 
aggressions on the rights of individuals by corporate wealth 
and influence. 

25. Inequality in taxation is provided against as far as pos- 
sible by putting all property on the same basis for taxation ; 
and minor civil divisions, as cities, counties, and districts, 
cannot tax their people beyond a fixed maximum rat(\ 

26. Cities, towns, counties, or parts thereof, cannot under 
any consideration, vote a tax in aid of railroads — the conven- 



AFTKIi THE CIVIL WAIi. 275 

tioii Ji:i\iMir held that all uct'C's.sai'v road.s Nvould he hiiilt with- 
out lot-al taxation. 

27. A iiuifonii system of courts is ])r()vicle(l, wilJi a shirhtly 
inereased lunulxT of judges more fairly distrihuted; the one 
court of last resort (the Court of Appeals) to have from five 
to seven judires, at the will of the legislature; and the 
numher of grand jurors is reduced from sixteen to twelve. 

28. All that })art of the old constitution referring to 
slavery and in conflict with the Federal constitution is omitted ; 
the working of convicts outside the penitentiary is prohihited; 
and it is made the duty of the legislature to establish a 
reformatory institution for young criminals. 

20. A most admirahle feature of this constitution is the 
l)rovision for quieting land titles in eastern Kentucky — the 
adverse claims in that section having been an obstacle to peace 
and })rogress for a hundred years. 

30. That important body, the Railway Commission, is 
rendered stable and efficient l)y making its members constitu- 
tional ofiicers; and the cause of popular education is strength- 
ened by the addition to the permanent school fund of the 
direct tax returned to Kentucky by the general government 
in 1X1)2 — a restitution of what was taken from it about fifty 
years ago by adverse legislation. 

31. It provides a simple and inexpensive yet safe way for 
its revision. Either house of the General Assembly may pro- 
pose amendments, which, when agreed to by three-fifths of all 
the members of both branches and ratified by a vote of the 
people, sha'l become part of the constitution. Or, if at any 
time it may be deemed expedient to call a convention to revise 
or amend, a plain and practicable mode is laid down. 

32. An indication of the growth of the state and the 
changed conditions of forty years is found in the fact that the 
subjects of railroads and other ('or})orati()ns, of nuinicipalities, 
public charities, and revenue and taxation had to be covered 
by new articles. 



27() Y()i;n(} TKoi'Lio's iiistohv of kkntucky. 

33. The convent ion rc-assoiubled September 2nd, 1<S1)1, to 
trnnsnct such business :is yet rcMuaiiKMl to it under the author- 
ity with which it had l)een invc^sted. It was found that the 
people had ratitied the new constitution l)}^ a majority of 
loS,;)i>L votes; and on the 2Sth of September, l<Si)l, it was 
proclaiuKMl to be in force and effect from and after that date. 

34. At the (quadrennial election of November, I'SilT), the 
entire Republican state ticket, headed by the Hon. AVni. (). 

Bradley for governor, was elected, 
for the first time in the history of 
Kentucky. 

35. Beginning about ISIK) and in- 
creasing steadily to the time at which 
this history closes, with but a simple 
temporary revival in 18U5, the United 
States has experienced the most re- 
markable business depression ever 
known in this countr}', and Kentucky 
has suffered and is still suffering in 
^„ , , ^ common with the other states. The 

GOV. WM. O. BUADLEY. 

character of her industrial occupa- 
pations, being chiefly agricultural, has operated to bring less 
enforced idleness and wide-spread destitution than in the great 
manufacturing states ; but even here the effect has been felt 
in every line of productive labor as well as of trade. The 
general cause of this all-pervading disturbance was a falling 
off of the revenues of the United States, so that the gold 
reserve in the treasury ($100,000,000 recjuired bylaw) had to 
be drawn upon to meet the current expenses of the govern- 
ment and preserve its credit, until at last, notwithstanding 
$100,000,000 of bonds had been sold at a considerable pre- 
mium, for gold with which to maintain it, the reserve was 
finally down to $41,000,000, and another bond issue of 
$02,000,000 had to be made, which sold at a much lower 
premium. This financial embarrassment brought about radi- 
cal diversity of opinion among the people as to the cause and 




AFTER TJIK CIVIL WAR. 



277 



the proper method of rehef. The great political parties Avere 
divided iq)()n the issue, and there were dissensions in the ranks 
of the parties, and some readjustment of party lines. The 
issue in the presidential election of 180G was simply one of 
finance — the ])roper system to be adopted by the general gov- 
ernment in order to obtain speedy relief and the assurance of 
a fixed and stable })olicy, so tliat lack of confidence might not 
hereafter disturb business relations 
and stifle enterprise. The question 
with the great leading parties was 
the free and unlimited coinage of 
both gold and silver at the ratio of 1(3 
of silver to 1 of gold, as opposed to 
the adoption of a single gold standard 
by which all values (including that of 
silver bullion) was to be estimated. 
The candidate of the Republican 
party, the Hon. Wm. McKinley, rep- 
resenting the gold standard, was suc- 
cessful over the Democratic candi- 
date representing free coinage at a fixed ratio, as well as over 
a conservative Democratic candidate who on the financial ques- 
tion was opposed to the latter. In this presidential race, as 
in the gubernatorial race of 1895, Kentucky for the first time 
in her history cast her vote for the Republican ticket — 
twelve of her thirteen electors being McKinley men and but 
one for the leading Democratic candidate, the Hon. Wm. J. 
Brvan. The majority was very small, however, being less 
than three hundred. 

36. An idea of the fearful eifect of the financial disturb- 
ance and the uncertainty prevailing during the five or six years 
under consideration is furnished by an able writer on the con- 
dition of the people, who says: "It is doubtful whether ever 
in the history of our country any five previous years had 
shown as much actual destitution and suffering as were 
crowded into the year LSJII." 




sf;natoii jno. g. Carlisle. 



278 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 



CHAPTER XYIII. 

education in KENTUCKY. 

1. Though it was nearly fifty years after Kentucky became a 
state before she had a jniblic school system, there were not 
wanting, from the first, intelligent, broad-minded and far- 
seeing citizens who sought to establish schools and in every 
practicable way to promote learning. 

2. Thomas Jefferson, as a man, as governor of Virginia, as 
president of the United States, was to Kentucky a wise and 
warm-hearted friend, and his earnest advocacy of the educa- 
tion of the whole people doubtless impressed his views upon 
Kentuckians. As early as May, 1780, co-operating with one 
of the representatives of Kentucky county. Col. John Todd, 
he induced the Leo;islature of Viro'inia to make a grant of lands 
to Kentucky for educational purposes. 

3. Almost immediately after the first w^omen and children 
came to Harrodstown (1775), Mrs. Wm. Coonies taught a 
school there; John May was teaching at McAfee's Station in 
1777; a Mr. Doniphan taught at Boonesborough in 1779, and 
it is more than probable that others had preceded him. It is 
known that shortly after the first settlement was made at Lex- 
ington, John McKinney was teaching there, and Filson, the 
historian, had taught there before he went (1788) on the 
expedition in which he lost his life. There seems to have 
been difficulty in procuring the necessary text-books ; but 
efforts were made to surmount this; in 1798 the Kentucky 
Primer and the Kentucky Speller were published in Washing- 
ton, Mason county; Harrison's Grammar at Frankfort ; and 
some other school-books subsequently. 

4. After the state was freed from the danger of Indian 
incursions, a log school-house w^as soon found in almost every 
connuunity containing a sufficient number of young people to 



EDUCATION IN KENTUCKY 



279 



justify tlic employment of ;i teacher for a few months each 
3'e:ir. When a neighborhood was in need of a school-house 
the men assembled with teams and tools and built it of timber 
and stone convenient to the spot, and for the most part fur- 
nished it, in a rough wa}^, without the aid of either saw-mills 
or skilh'd carpenters. The teacher, who in the earlier years 
of the slate was often a kind of itinerant or travellino: man. 




TUE TYPICAL KURAL COMBINATION — CHURCH, SCHOOL-HOUSE, AND 

CEMETERY. 



was ])ald with a fund raised by subscription, and made his 
home during the session with the patrons, "boarding round," 
or stajang a short time alternately with each. In this way 
the children got their primary instruction (and thousands of 
them enjoyed no further advantages) till after the common 
school system was established and the state was regularly 
districted. 



280 YOUNG PEOPLE .S ILISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

5. The necessity for schools of higher grade early engaged 
the attention of the peoi)le of Kentucky and of the mother 
state in their behalf. In 17(S3 Virginia endowed Transylvania 
Seminary (afterward Transylvania University and one of the 
most famous in the Union). This was established at Dan- 
ville, but in 1789 it was removed to Lexington. 

6. February 10th, 1798, the legislature gave to certain 
academies and seminaries each 6,000 acres of land for their 
benefit and support; and in 1805 and 1808 similar acts were 
passed, extending the provision to all the counties then organ- 
ized. Within twenty years about fifty of these county semi- 
naries were established, and some educational benefit was 
derived from them ; but insufiicient safeguards for the reten- 
tion and use of the lands were provided, and this magnificent 
provision was ill-managed and eventually squandered. 

7. As Kentucky did not receive from the general govern- 
ment grants of land for educational purposes, as many of the 
other states did. Congress passed an act (approved June 23rd, 
1836) apportioning about $28,000,000 of surplus money in 
the treasury as a loan to the older states which had received 
no donations of land. Of this, Kentucky's share was $1,433,- 
757. It was granted with the implied assurance that it would 
be used for educational and internal improvement purposes ; 
and by act of the legislature (February 23rd, 1837) $1,000,000 
was set apart for a school fund, but this was subsequently 
reduced to $850,000. By accumulations and additions of 
unexpended surpluses this was finally increased to $1,327,000 
' — a sum set apart and forever dedicated by the constitution 
and laws for the purpose of sustaining common schools. By 
subsequent legislative enactments and constitutional provisions 
the permanent and inviolable school fund has been made to 
consist of bonds and stocks as follows : Seven hundred and 
thirty-five shares of stock in the Bank of Kentucky, amount- 
ing to $73,500 (1842); bond of the commonwealth for 
$1,327,000 (1870); bondfor surplus due counties, $381,986.08 



EDUCATION IX KKNTrCKY. 281 

(1803); bond for $<;()(;, (')4l.()8 ( 181)2), on which interest at 
six per cent, is pjiyiible semi-annually. Other resources are 
as follows: An annual tax of twenty-two cents on each one 
hundred dollars of value of all real and personal estate and of 
eorporate franchises assessed for taxation, and on the state's 
portion of fines, forfeitures and licenses. From all these 
sources the state pays about two millions of dollars each year 
for the employment of teachers in the free schools. 

8. The question of a public school system w^as pressed upon 
the attention of the legislature by some of the governors from 
time to time for more than thirt}^ years, and often considered 
by that body before any decisive action was taken. To the 
General Assembly of 1822, the Hon. William T. Barry, chair- 
man of a commission which had been appointed (October, 
1821) to investigate the subject of common. schools, made a 
report which has been pronounced one of the ablest state 
papers in our archives. Fe presented a summarv of the edu- 
cational conditions of other states, in which he found warrant 
to urge upon the legislature the inauguration of an adequate 
system of schools for all the children. 

9. In 1830 the Rev. Benjamin O. Peers, who had been 
requested by the legislature to give them whatever informa- 
tion he had as to the practical workings of public school sys- 
tems, made an able and impressive report, and a plan was 
proposed, but it was not acted upon. 

10. On the 16th of February, 1838, a law, drafted by 
Judge William F. Bullock, of Louisville, was passed, estab- 
lishing a system of common schools in Kentucky; but it was 
based upon the idea of furnishing education for pauper chil- 
dren only. It was thirty years before really just vieAvs came 
to be generally entertained and the system established on a 
permanent basis and brought to anything like satisfactory 
efficiency, 

11. The legislature of 1873-74 provided for the education 
of colored children in public schools, for the separate niainte- 



EDUCATION' IN KKNTrCKV, 283 

nance of which the taxes assessed on the propeity of colored 
j)eo|)le was to be devoted with a j)oIl-t:ix of one dollar on each 
colored male adult, and fines and forfeitures collected from 
them ; but in 1883 the amount per head for all pu})il children, 
white and colored, was made the same, on which basis the 
entire public fund has since been distributed. 

12. The state has long exercised a beneficent care over her 
defective classes, by establishing and liberall}^ maintaining the 
Kentucky Institution for Deaf Mutes, at Danville; the Ken- 
tucky Institute for the Feeblc-Minded, at Frankfort; and the 
Kentucky Institution for the Blind, at Louisville, 

1J5. High-class private schools (sectarian and non-sectarian) 
have done a noble work for nearly a hundred and ten years. 
As early as 1787 there were classical and scientific schools 
besides the Transylvania Seminary. Centre College was in- 
corporated in 1819; and besides this are many notable insti- 
tutions, some of them of long standing and famous for the 
work they htive done; as, Georgetown College (chartered in 
1829), Bethel College, St. Joseph's College, the Kentucky 
University, Central University, Kentucky Wesleyan Univer- 
sity, Southern Bajitist Theological Seminary, Ogden College, 
and Berea College. The schools of law, medicine and divinity 
have uniformly commanded faculties of a high order of talent 
and attainments, 

14:. Besides the high schools that constitute a part of the 
city systems, two state institutions, each having a department 
for the special training of teachers, are connected with the 
connnon school system — the Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
lege, at Lexington, and the State Normal School for colored 
persons, at Frankfort. These are supported in })art by the 
state and in part by the general government. 




'284 



EDUCATION IX KENTUCKY. 



285 




JUDGE W. F. BULLOCK. 



PERSONAL SKETCHES, ETC. 

I. Conspicuous Service to the Coinnion School System. — 

From the lime (Tovcrnor (xrooniip began to press the matter 

of ediuatioii upon the k'gishitiire 

(ISOT), Kentiu'kv has continuously 

mnnherecl among her public men many 

able and earnest advocates of u state 

system that would i)ut within reach 

of every child a fair elementary edu- 
cation. Amonj? the m-eat number en- 

titled to the gratitude of those who '^PMI • /I^K i \» 

reflect that only an educated people ' 

can long remain a free and haj)py 

people, a few have been conspicuous 

l)y reason of timely and effective serv- 
ice. After many 3'ears of agitation 

and some ill-directed efforts, Jud2:e 

Wm. F. Bullock drafted a bill to es- 

tal)lisli a system of schools whose 

benefits should accrue to the whole people ; and he had the 

address to organjze its avowed friends, to win the wavering, 

and press it to a passage. But it 
slowly w^on its way into popular favor, 
notwithstanding the efforts of the able 
gentlemen who administered its af- 
fairs for the first nine years, and 
when the Rev. Dr. Robert J. Breck- 
inridge became superintendent of pub- 
lic instruction (1847) some adverse 
legislation, some inconsiderate if not 
unjust action, and a lack of that deep 
interest which would have made the 
people jealous and watchful, threat- 
ened to destroy it. To correct evils 
and establish it upon a permanent 

REVKUKND DOCTOK i vi l i • l u ^ j. 

ROBT. J. BUECKiNRiuGE, «"« "10^6 liberal basis, he brought 
Sixth Superintendent of Public to bear his great ability, unyielding 
Instruction. determination, and strong personal- 

ity, with beneficent results. From that time there was no 
backward step. 




28 () 



YOUNG PI<:OPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY 




SMITH, 



Tenth Superintendent of 
Public Instruction. 



During the next ten year.s its growth wiis slow ; and during 
the civil war, it is true, its efficiencv was impaired; ))ut it was 
rooted and grounded, though so poorly 
endowed that when the Hon. Z. F. 
Smith became superintendent of public 
instruction (1<S()7) he found the pro- 
ceeds of permanent funds and the little 
tax then levied utterly inadc(juate to 
provide in each district an annual term 
of sufficient length to be of any de- 
cided benefit. He went before the 
General Assembly with a bill to vote 
an increase of school tax from five to 
twenty cents on the hundred dollars of 
pro})erty assessed. His measure met 
with such formidable, uncompromis- 
ing, persistent opposition as would 
have driven a weak man from his pur- 
pose ; but he succeeded in securing its 
adoption; and at the polls, in 1869, the people ratified it by 
nearly twenty-five thousand majority. 
In the constitutional convention of 
1890-91, the Hon. Wm. M. Beckner, 
the member for Clark county, who be- 
gan in 1882 an agitation that led to 
the passage of a new school law in 
1883-84, and who had long and boldly 
insisted on the need of more means 
to support the public school system, 
and of such an energetic policy in ad- 
ministering it as would nuikeit a pow- 
erful force in our state economy, took 
a decided stand in guarding against 
encroachments and in favor of re- 
forms. He succeeded, in the face of 
strong opposition, in having the di- 
rect tax Avhich was returned to Ken- 
tucky in 1892, by the general government ( $006, 641. 03), 
made a permanent and inviolable part of the school fund. 
Subsequently, during a short service in Congress, he earn- 
estly and ably labored for the passage of a bill to equalize 




HON. WM. M. BECKNER. 



EDUCATION IN KKNTUCKV. 



287 



the states in the matter of land grants for sehool ])urposes. 
The oriu'mal thirteen states, with Vermont, Kentueky, Ten- 
nessee, Maine and West Virginia, have had no part of the 
|)nl)Hc domain in aid of their common schools. Beginning 
with Ohio (I8O0), and continuing until California was ad- 
mitted (1S53), Congress, acting on a suggestion of Thomas 
Jefferson's, set apart one section of (540 acres in each town- 
ship of six miles sijuarc, to be used in support of the })ubhc 
schools. Since IS.k] this reservation has been doubled in the 
act providing for the admission of each new state. It re- 
<|uires 27,.VS'.»,1)9() acres to e(|ualize the states, and of this Ken- 
tucky would receive i,:V.VJj:]:] acres — a princely addition to 
the provision for our schools. This act of simple justice would 
require but n small fraction of the public lands. The United 
States owned ill l.Sl»4 more than ()00,()(K),00() acres, exclusive 
of Alaska, the Indian or military reservations, and certain 
other lands, some of which may become part of the ]niblic 
domain. It is readily seen what the success of his labors 
would have meant to Kentucky. 

Two popular conventions, held at his suggestion in 1883 
(the first in April at Frankfort, the second in September at 
Louisville), to discuss educational conditions and needs, 
did nuich to shape public sentiment and lead to radical 
improvement. 




2<S8 YOUNG TEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ART, SCIENCE, AND LITERATURE. 

1. It is only in the older states, where obstacles to the 
profitable culture of the soil have been removed, all the lead- 
ing industries established, and wealth accumulated, that peo- 
ple find time to cultivate a taste for the arts, sciences, and 
literature, and where scholars have leisure to devote them- 
selves to the more refined intellectual pursuits; but from a 
very early period in her history Kentucky has not been wholly 
destitute of those who have distinguished themselves in these 
lines of thought and endeavor and contributed to the enter- 
tainment, the profit, and the elevation of mankind. 

2. Some of her sons (pioneer and native-born) have made 
remarkable and useful inventions and discoveries. John 
Fitch, a pioneer who located lands in Nelson county, invented 
in 1786 the steam-boat; and James Rumsey about the same 
time (and, as he claimed, without knowledge of Fitch's work) 
also successfully applied steam to the navigation of water- 
craft. In 1794 Edward West, of Lexington, constructed a 
small steam-boat which proved successful on an experimental 
trial; and in 1802 he patented this invention; also, a gun- 
lock, and a machine for cutting and heading nails. Thomas 
H. Barlow, also of Lexington, built a model locomotive for a 
railroad car (1827). He invented the only planetarium in 
the world which perfectly imitated the motions of the solar 
svstem. In 1810 he invented a rifle-cannon, and subsequently 
a nail and tack machine which proved eminently successful. 
William Kelley% who in 1846 located near Eddyville and 
engaged in the manufacture of iron, discovered what is now 
known as the Bessemer process of converting pig-iron into 
steel — a discovery which has proved of incalculable benefit. 
Scarcely a year has passed in which Kentuckians have not 



AllT, SCIKXCK, AM) UTKIiATUKK. 289 

patented something useful; but in an inventive age, when the 
world ha« eeased to wonder at the most remarkable discover- 
ies, they find their way into use without attracting marked 
attention. 

'.i. In iSOi; Dr. Brashear, of Bardstown, performed a feat 
of surgery which had hitherto been unknown in America; and 
in 1801) Dr. Ei)hraim INlcDowell, of Danville,, successfully 
])erformed a surgical operation which was the first of the kind 
in the world, one which he and Dr. Joshua T. Bradford, of 
Augusta, subsequently practiced with wonderful success, and 
which became common, to the mitigation of much suffering 
aiul the saving of many lives. McDowell was a genuine bene- 
factor of the human race. 

4. In the field of letters it is impossible to notice all who 
have attained to distinction by their contributions to science, 
history, and fiction; but the following list of those who have 
become known by the publication of their poetical works, 
either in pernument form or in current periodicals, embraces 
some who have made a national reputation, and many who 
would have become famous had they devoted themselves 
steadily to poetry instead of resorting to it as a mere diver- 
sion : Prof. Marcus B. Allmond, Mrs. Mary E. Betts. Mrs. 
Sarah T. Bolton, Gen. William O. Butler, Noble Butler, James 
K. Barrick, Granville M. Ballard, Mrs. Mary L. Cady, Mrs. 
Florence Clark, Fortunatus Cosby, Jr., Madison J. Cawein, 
Rev. Sydney Dyer, James G. Drake, Mrs. Alice Grifiin, Miss 
:Mattie Griflath, Mrs. Sarah J. Howe, Dr. John Milton Har- 
ney, Joel T. Hart, William Wallace Harney, Will S. Hays (a 
popular song-writer), Mrs. Rosa V. Jeffrey, Thomas Johnson, 
Mrs. Annie Ketchum, W. J. Lampton, Mrs. Jennie C. ]\Ior- 
ton, ]VIrs. Nellie (Marshall) McAfee, Mrs. Mary R. McAboy, 
Miss Elvira Sydnor Miller, John B. Marshall, Samuel C. 
Mercer, Mrs. Mary E. Nealy, Mrs. Sophia Oliver, Theodore 
O'Hara, Mrs. Sallie M. B. Piatt, George D. Prentice, Mrs. 
Mary E. F. Shannon, Mrs. Laura C. Smith, Thomas H. 
19 



290 



YOUNG TEOI'LE S III.STORY OF KENTUCKY. 



Shreve, Plenry T. Stanton, Mrs. Helen Trusdell, Mrs. Amelia 
B. Welby, Mrs. Ann Maria Welby, Mrs. Katharine A. War- 
field, William Ross Wallace, and Robert Burns Wilson. 

5. Kentucky has had among her citizens, native and resi- 
dent, several painters and sculptors who have been distin- 




jaiiP iiiilitiyJiMi *iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiJ!iyiiJ,iiJi!iiiiiyiifflii[liii!iJIJi[L 



GEORGE D. PIJENTICE. 



guished and some whose superior excellence gave them national 
if not world-wide fame. Matt Jouett (as he was familiarly 
called), a native of Mercer county, died at the age of thirty- 
nine years, and yet, almost wholly self-taught, and "with little 
opportunity of profiting by even the sight of famous i)ictures, 



ART, SCIENCE, AND LITERATURE. 201 

h;id made himself one of the most skillful portrait painters of 
llic nineteenth ccnliirA'. 

<>. Among others were "\V. C^. Allen, a native of Kentucky; 
Joseph II. Bush, horn and reared in Frankfort; Oliver Frazer, 
a native of Lexington; Gen. Samuel W. Price, born in 
Nicholasville, now a citizen of Louisville; Mrs. Eliza Brown, 
of Lexington ; Thomas Noble, a native of Lcxin'gton ; Aaron 
II. Corwine, of Mason count}'; Neville Cain, of Louisville; 
Paul Sawyier, of Frankfort; and Robert Burns Wilson, an 
ado})ted citizen of Kentucky, famous as the poet-artist — a 
landscape and portrait painter, who has been for many years 
resident in Frankfort. 

7. Joel T. Hart, the "poet-sculptor," who executed that 
ex(|uisite piece of work, "The Triumph of Chastity," as well 
as much other notable sculpture, was born in Clark county, 
but in early manhood became a citizen of Lexington. A great 
artist, Iliram Powers, said that this son of Kentucky, Ilart, 
was "the greatest sculptor in the world;" and the historian 
Collins, says; "In 1874 the entire art world conceded that he 
was the greatest of sculi)tors, living or dead." 



NOTES AND COMMENTS. 

I. Durrett and the Filson Club. — Every Kentuckian who 
rightly ai)preciates the importance of preserving the history 
of his people, in its varied aspects, is under lasting obliga- 
tions to Col. Reuben T. Durrett, of Louisville, who long ago 
began and has since steadily prosecuted an effort to collect 
and file historic and biographic matter, and to gather upon 
his shelves the productions of Kejituck}^ pens. He had the 
acumen to perceive the value of "unconsidered trifles" as well 
of works of specific aim and recognized worth ; and whatever 
serves to illustrate times, maimers, character of mind, inci- 
dents and episodes that do not rise in the estimation of the 
general public to the dignity of historic importance — all 
these he has held worthy of notice and been studious to rescue 



292 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



from oblivion. It is to bo deplored that Kentucky has not 
yet a suitably endowed, organized, and working historical 
-^_j:==s%«-_ _^ society ; but the private collection of 

Colonel Durrett, accessible through 
his kindness to all Avho wish to inves- 
tigate, supplies in a measure this la- 
mentable defect in our state economy. 
At his suggestion a number of patri- 
otic and public-spirited gentlemen 
organized May 15th, 1884, the Filson 
Club, "for the purpose of collecting 
and preserving the history of Ken- 
tucky." This has been a working 
body, proceeding upon lines Avhich 
he adopted as an individual. Manu- 
scripts, scraps of history and bio- 
graphy, books, pamphlets, etc., have 
been collected and stored among its 
archives, and a number of exceedingly valuable historic and 
biographic papers have been prepared and published. 




COLONEL 
REUBEN T. DURRETT 




AFRICAN SLAVKRY IN KENTUCKY. 293 



CHAPTER XX. 

AFRICAN SLAVKKY IN KENTUCKY. 

1. As most of the earl}" settlers were from slave-hoklin<j 
states they brought with them their slaves, and the institution 
was fixed upon Kentucky by the terms of the first constitu- 
tion. There were those, however, who opposed it from the 
beginning, and the views of these continued to meet with con- 
sideration and res})ect until the extreme Abolitionists of the 
north left the domain of reasonable argument and began a 
tirade of violent abuse against slave owners as well as slavery. 

2. Even in the making of their first constitution some of 
our law-givers showed that at that time they regarded it as an 
evil. The Rev. David Rice, a Presbyterian minister who was 
a delegate, offered a resolution providing for gradual emanci- 
pation, but he could not induce a majority to support his 
})ro})osition. AVhen the article legalizing slavery was made a 
part of the draft, a motion was made during the discussions 
which followed to strike it out, and here came the crucial test 
of the temper of the convention. Of the forty-two votes 
cast (three delegates not voting), sixteen voted to strike out. 
Sitting as delegates were six ministers of the gospel, every 
one of whom voted to prohibit slavery altogether. 

ti. This constitution as ultimately enacted and ordained 
pr()liil)ited the bringing of slaves into the state as merchan- 
dise, and none were to be brought for any purpose who had 
been imported to America since 1789; and it recommended 
to the legislature the passage of laws permitting the emancipa- 
tion of slaves, with the proviso that they should not become 
a charge on the county in which they resided. 

4. When the matter of calling a convention to revise the 
first constitution was being generally discussed, the question 
of emancipation was prominent. The American Colonization 



294 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



Society luid been organi/ed, and at this early day Henry Clay 
took strong ground in advocacy of its })rinciples and i)lan.s. 

5. In 1804 a number of Baptist ministers organized as the 
Friends of Ilumanit}' — a body of emancipators who were bold 
in their opposition to slavery and in demanding its extinction; 
but this society was not long maintained. 

6. Clay continued his opposition through hfe; but he was 
never violent, never abusive, never uncharitable to those who 
owned slaves but had not been responsible for the existence of 
slavery; and he steadily kept his hold upon the people of 

Kentucky while maintaining that it 
was a great evil to the commonwealth 
as well as a wrong to those who were 
held in bondage. He was at one time 
president of the American Coloniza- 
tion" Society, and was an active pro- 
moter of the Kentucky Society, 
Avhich was instrumental in procuring 
the freedom of many slaves and aiding 
also those pi-eviously freed to emigrate 
and establish themselves in the Re- 
public of Liberia. 

7. With the growth of the Aboli- 
tion party in the north, however, 
came a corresponding opposition in Kentucky to its radi- 
cal teachings, and when these men organized and declared 
unqualified war on slavery, proclaiming the doctrine that the 
constitution and laws of the United States should be disre- 
garded when they interposed obstacles to their purpose, the 
feeling of opposition and resentment grew so strong that for 
a time freedom of speech and of the public press was not 
respected when used in the advocacy of Abolition principles. 
In June, 1845, Cassius M. Clay, a bold and uncompromising 
anti-slavery leader, began in Lexington to publish the True 
American, in which he expressed his sentiments in positive 




MAJOR-GENERAL 

CASSIUS M. CLAY, 

U. S. A. 



AFRICAN SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY. 29.^ 

and not always Iciiipcrato terms. In Auirust a meeting oi 
citizens was held antl ;i committee was a])pointed to wait upon 
Mr. Clay and rc(]uest hini to discontinue its publication, as 
they believ'ed it dangerous to the peace of the community and 
to the safety of their homes and families. Upon his defiant 
refusal, another meeting was held and a committee of leading 
citizens appointed to take possession of press and type and 
ship them to Cincinnati, which was done. 

8. For ten years preceding the constitutional convention 
of 1849, the northern Abolitionists were active, aggressive and 
defiant of law, and took steps to provide for the escape of 
slaves from Kentucky masters by establishing stations along 
the Ohio river, and sending secret emissaries into the state to 
aid and encourage them. Their success was small, as the 
negroes were slow to avail themselves of opportunities ; but 
the conduct of these people was exasperating, and its immedi- 
ate effect was to create a system of patroling or night-watch- 
ino; and led to such rigor in the treatment of slaves as hitherto 
they had not felt. In 1844, the Rev. Calvin Fairbanks and 
Miss Delia A. Webster were arrested in Kentucky and tried 
on a charge of abducting slaves, and conveying them to 
Ohio. He was convicted on his own confession and his pun- 
ishment fixed at fifteen years' confinement in the penitentiary. 
She was convicted and sentenced to two years in the peniten- 
tiary, but was pardoned after seven weeks' confinement, in 
response to the petition of the jury, all of whom signed it, in 
consideration of her sex. 

9. On the 25th of April, 1849, a state emancipation con- 
vention met in Frankfort and recommended that for dele- 
gate to the constitutional convention which was to assemble 
October 1st, of that year, a candidate, favorable to including in 
the new instrument two provisions, be run in every county; 
namely, the absolute prohibition of the importing of any more 
slaves into Kentucky, and the com})lete power to perfect and 
enforce, whenever the people desired it, a system of gradual 



296 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

emancipation and colonization. One nicmbcr of this conven- 
tion, a native Kcntucician, who .su))sc(juentlj foinidcd Berea 
College, the Rev, John G. Fee, though of a slave-holding 
family, took advanced ground, and insisted that a fight be 
made for the utter abolition of slavery in Kentucky; but the 
strong pro-slavery party had now grown radical, as is evinced 
by the long and earnest debates in the constitutional conven- 
tion and in the overwhelming vote against every proposition 
to interfere in any way with the institution as it then existed. 
The great majority resented interference, and seemed fixed in 
the belief that slavery was both right and expedient and that 
its permanence ought to be assured; but upon one mind at 
least, the shadow of the mighty conflict, now twelve years in 
the future, and its momentous result, had fallen, even at this 
time. In discussing the question Squire Turner, one of the 
delegates from Madison county, a slave-holder, but favoring 
permissive emancipation, used these words: "Now I make 
use of one observation which some gentlemen may probably 
take exception to. I say there is no man living who sees in 
the hand of Providence what I see that does not perceive that 
there is a power at work above us that is above all human 
institutions, and one that will yet prevail [to liberate the 
slaves] even in Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky. Yes, there 
is a power at work which is above all human power, and one 
which we cannot resist. I do not say that I desire this ; but 
that it is coming, that it is as steadily marching upon us as we 
are marching forward to the grave, and that we do not know 
when it will come, is perfectly certain from the evidences around 
us." It was a singular feature of this organic law of 1849-50 
that it not only recognized the existence of slavery, but appar- 
ently made it permanent, as it was afterward found that the 
constitution contained no direct provision by which it could 
be revised. Despite this care to prevent change, however, 
it was less than fifteen years before slavery in the United 



AFRICAN SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY. 297 

States was wiped out of cxistoiu'C, as one of the results of the 
great civil war. 

10. After the emaiU'i|)alion proclaiuatioii of January 1st, 
1803, was issued, the great niajoritj'^ of the negroes of Ken- 
tucky remained quietly with their masters; and though 
Congress had not yet formallj^ declared the abolition of 
slnver}', numy owners, regarding them as virtually made free 
by the act of the president, made terms with them to con- 
tinue as hired laborers and domestic servants. When the 
enlistment of colored troops began in Kentucky, under orders 
from the war office at Washington, from twelve to twenty 
thousand of the men enlisted in the Federal army. 

11. Two months before the close of the war, the Thirteenth 
Amendment of the constitution of the United States, abolish- 
ing and forbidding slavery in the states and territories of the 
Union, was before the Legislature of Kentucky for action. 
This amendment, adopted by Congress, February 1st, 1805, 
made no provision for paying for slaves freed in the loyal 
states. The people of Kentucky regarded all the measures 
of the Federal government — the emancipation proclamation, 
the enlisting of colored soldiers in the loyal states, the adop- 
tion of this amendment, and the" disregard of the rights of 
private property, as unconstitutional. In addition, they 
resented the application to their own state of war measures 
provoked b}'^ secession; and the legislature refused, by a large 
majority, to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment. Before the 
close of 1865, however, the recjuisite number of states had 
ratified, and there were no longer grounds for cjaiming that 
emancipation was not complete and final. 

12. Prior to this, there was much needless interference 
with the negroes by the military commandant, which brought 
no good to them, while it still farther angered the whites and 
increased dissatisfaction with the policy of the war office in 
dealing with them. When the act of Congress establishino; a 
department of government known as the Freedman's Bureau 



298 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

WHS passed (February, 1866), intended to provide for the 
ex-sl:ive.s, on the ground that they were the "wards of the 
nation," the agents it sent to Kentucky greatly increased the 
evil. Here and there were found men and women, both 
natives and foreigners, who were actuated by the highest 
Christian motives in seeking to provide for the education 
of the emancipated race and for pleasant relations between 
the ex-slaves and their former masters ; but many of the 
government's accredited agents were of the odious carpet-bag 
class, who under guise of love for the negroes stirred up 
enmity between them and the whites, to the annoyance and 
injury of both. Their philanthropy was but a pretense, under 
which they sought so to administer their office as to increase 
occasion for its continuance, that they might be retained in 
the public service and profit thereby. When this cause of 
irritation was removed, the two races soon adjusted them- 
selves to the new conditions ; the negroes learned that their 
best friends were those who understood them best, and that 
the civil authority was ready to extend its protection over all. 
13. Ii% April, 1866, Congress passed a Civil Rights Bill by 
which the f reednien were made citizens of the United States ; 
and this was followed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the 
constitution, providing, among other things, that all persons 
born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of 
the states wherein they reside. When this came before the 
legislature for action (January 10th, 1867), it was soon found 
that the views and temper of that body had not changed. 
While accepting the results of the war, and making no pre- 
tense that slavery really continued to exist among them, they 
refused to endorse the manner of its abolition and the control 
of the former slaves which the government assumed. The 
General Assembly, composed for the most part of strong 
Union men, many of whom had been soldiers in its armies, 
refused to ratify by a vote of 1)1 to 36. The requisite number 



AFRICAN SLAVERY IN KENTUCKY. 299 

of states approved, however, and in 1868 the president pro- 
cUiimed it to be in force; and there was no longer question as 
to the citizenship of the former skives, in whatsoever state 
or terrilorv they miirht be found. 

l-t. Next was enacted the i)r()vision as to suffrage. The 
Fifteenth Amendment prohibited any state from passing a law 
to prevent citizens from voting "on account of race, color, or 
previous condition of servitude." When this came before the 
General Assembh'^ of Kentucky for action (March 13th, 
18G0), it refused by a vote of 107 to 11 to ratify; but by 
March l')th, 1<S70, therecjuisite three-fourths of the states had 
approved, and the president made proclamation accordingly. 
Thus, within five years after the war closed the ex-slaves were 
invested with all the legal rights which white citizens held. 

15. In 1871, some of the courts of the state began to admit 
negro testimony; but it was not until January 8th, 1872, that 
the old laws, which limited it in many ways, were repealed, 
and the colored witness was placed on the same legal footing 
as the white one. 

IG. Placed now, as they were, on the same legal plane as 
the whites, the matter of preparing this race for intelli- 
gent citizenship began to receive the attention of the authori- 
ties. By act of the legislature, February 23rd, 1874, a uni- 
form system of public schools for colored children was pro- 
vided — the fund to consist of the taxes assessed on the 
property of colored people and one dollar poll-tax on each 
colored male adult, with some money derived from other 
sources of state revenue. The schools were to be separate 
from those of the whites, but under the general control of the 
white school commissioners, while the colored people were to 
have the management in their respective districts. At that 
time they numbered about 223,000, or one-seventeenth of the 
entire population; but a defective return of pupil children 
showed only 37,414 (about sixteen in every hundred). 



300 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

17. In I'SDO the colored population Avas 2r)8,071, of whom 
111,400 (more than forty-one in every hundred) were children 
between the ages of six and twenty. For the school year 
1874-75 their school fund was but $18,707, or fifty cents per 
pupil child. By act of the legislature, 1883, all the school 
revenues were designated as one fund, to be apportioned 
equally among all children of pujjil age, irrespective of color, 
so that the colored people were now afforded e(|ual opportuni- 
ties with the whites to obtain that common school education 
for which the state provides. 

18. The legislature of 1885-86 made still further provision 
for the education of colored children. An appropriation was 
made to erect and furnish the necessary buildings for a state 
normal school, that teachers in their common schools might 
be trained for their important work ; and three thousand dol- 
lars annually was appropriated for its maintenance. The city 
of Frankfort donated twenty-four acres of land as a site for 
this institution. Buildings were erected soon afterward, and 
in October, 1887, the school was opened. In 1800 Congress 
made an additional ap})ropriation for the establishment and 
maintenance of agricultural and mechanical schools in the 
states. Of this the colored normal school gets its proportion 
of Kentucky's share; and the industrial feature has been 
added. The legislature has twice since that time made appro- 
priations to supplement this United States fund and provide 
buildings and machinery; and the trustees of the Slater fund 
extended further aid by a donation of $2,000. 

19. Thus, by making the colored children to share equally 
with the whites in the apportionment of the school fund, and 
by establishing and subsequently strengthening a public school 
of high grade, to provide an ample corps of professional 
teachers, besides giving to others a knowledge of handicraft, 
the state has expended, for the benefit of those so recently 
held in bondage and kept in ignorance, far in excess of the 
taxes derived from the property of the colored race. 



AFRICAN SLAVKUY IN KENTUCKY. .'')01 

20. Those fjicilitics, provided by the state and otherwise, 
for the intellectual, moral, and manual training of the race, 
have been supplemented by philanthropic private enterprise in 
the establishment and endowment of institutions of note and 
notable usefulness. Among these may be mentioned the Eck- 
stien Ncn-toR University at Cane S[)ring, Bullitt county, with 
departments collegiate, normal, and industrial; the State Uni- 
versity at Louisville, with departments normal, theological, 
and industrial; and the Chandler Normal at Lexington. 

21. Enjoving e(iual privileges under the law, and afforded 
the same opportunities for mental and moral culture, regarded 
with favor in })roportion as they make themselves intelligent, 
honorable and useful citizens, their destiny is wholly in their 
own hands — under that Providence which suffered them to be 
led from the darkness of pagan barbarism into the hard school 
of nearly two hundred and fifty years of bondage, and, at 
last, by ways that, in fact, both their owners and their libera- 
tors knew not of, into the high estate of freedom in a heaven- 
favored and mighty Christian republic 




302 Youxd peoplp:\s historv of Kentucky. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, COMMENTS, ETC. 

I. Kentucky's Governors, Lieutenant-Governors and Sec- 
r<'taries of State. 

17U2-17i)(): — Isaac Slielbv, governor (no lieutenant-governor 
under first constitution); James Brown, secretary of 
state. 

179(3-1800: — James Garrard, governor; Harry Toulmin, sec- 
retary. 

1800-1804: — James Garrard, governor; Alexander Scott Bul- 
litt, lieutenant-governor; Harry Toulmin, secretary. 

1801-1808: — Christopher Greenup, governor; John Cald- 
well, lieutenant-governor; John Rowan, secretary. 

1808-1812:— Charles Scott, governor; Gabriel Slaughter, 
lieutenant-governor; Jesse Bledsoe, secretary. 

1812-1816: — Isaac Shelby, governor; Richard Hickman, lieu- 
tenant-governor; Martin D. Hardin, secretary. 

1816: — George Madison, governor from the first week in Sep- 
tember till October 14th ; Gabriel Slaughter, lieutenant- 
governor; Chas. S. Todd, secretary. 

1816-1820: — Gabriel Slaughter, governor by succession, from 
October 21st, 181(), Governor Madison having died Octo 
ber 14th, 1816; John Pope, secretary, succeeded by 
Oliver G. Wagoner. 

1820-1824: — John Adair, governor; Wni. T. Barry, lieuten- 
ant-governor; Joseph Calx'll Breckinridge, secretary, 
succeeded by Thomas B. Monroe. 

1824-1828:— Joseph Desha, governor; Robt. B. McAfee, 
lieutenant-governor; Wni. T. Barry, secretary, succeeded 
by James C. Pickett. 

1828-1832: — Thomas Metcalfe, governor; John Breathitt, 
lieutenant-governor; George Robertson, secretary, suc- 
ceeded by Thomas T. Crittenden. 



MISCELLANEOirS NOTKS, COMMENTS, ETC. .'i03 

1832-1.S34: — John Breathitt, governor; Janie.s T. Morehead, 
lieutenant-governor; Lewis Sanders, secretary. 

1834— l<s;i(): — James T. Morehead, governor by succession, 
Governor Breathitt having died February 21st, 1831; 
John J. Crittenden, secretary, succeeded by Wni. Ows- 
ley, and he by Austin P. Cox. 

183G-i.S3i»:— James Clark, governor; Charles A. AVickliffe, 
lieutenant-governor; James M. Bullock, secretary. 

1839-1810: — Charles A. Wickliffc, governor by succession. 
Governor Clark having died September 27th, 1839; 
James M. Bullock, secretary. 

1840-l.sil :— Robert P. Letcher, governor ; Manlins V. Thom- 
son, lieutenant-governor; James Harlan, secretary. 

1844— 1S48: — AVm. Owsley, governor; Archibald Dixon, lieu- 
tenant-governor ; Ben Hardin, secretary, succeeded by 
George B. Kinkead, and he b}^ Wm. D. Reed. 

184<S-1<S")(): — John J. Crittenden, governor; John L. Helm, 
lieutenant-governor; John W. Finnell, secretary. 

18oO-l<S51: — John L. Helm, governor by succevssion. Gov- 
ernor Crittenden having resigned July 31st, 1850; John 
W. Finnell, secretary. 

1851-18-")5 : — Lazarus W. Powell, governor (elected under the 
constitution of 1849-r)0) ; John B. Thompson, lieutenant- 
governor; James P. Metcalfe, secretary, succeeded by 
Grant Green. 

1855-18.")9: — Charles S. Morehead, gov^ernor; James G. 
Hardy, lieutenant-governor; Mason Brown, secretary. 

18")9-I.S(!2: — Beriah ^Magoffin, governor; Linn Boyd, lieu- 
tenant-governor (Boyd died December 17th, 1859); 
Thomas B. Monroe, Jr., secretary, succeeded by Nat 
Gait her, eJr. 

1862-18(53: — James F. Robinson, governor by succession, 
Governor MagotHn having resigned August 18th, 18(52 
(Robinson was speaker of the senate when Magoffin 
resigned); D. C. Wickliffe, secretary. 



304 YOUNG people's IIISTOKV of KENTUCKY. 

ISOa-lSdT: — Thouias E. Bniinlette, governor; Eichard T. 
Jacob, lieutcMiant-governor; E. L. Van Wiuklo, secre- 
• tarv, succeeded ))y John S. Van AA'inkle. 

I'Slw: — John L. Helm, governor from September 3rd to Sep- 
tember 8tli : John W. Stevenson, lieutenant-governor; 
Samuel B. Churchill, secretary. 

1867-1871: — John W. Stevenson, governor by succession till 
September, 18()<S, and governor by election from Septem- 
ber, 18()8, till February 13th, 1871; Samuel B. Churchill, 
secretary. 

1871: — Preston H. Leslie, governor by succession from Feb- 
ruary 13th, 1871, till September, 1871, Governor Ste- 
venson havino- resio-ned on former date; Samuel B. 
Churchill , secretary. 

1871-1'S7.') : — Preston 11. Leslie, governor; John G. Carlisle, 
lieutenant-governor; Andrew J. James, secretary, suc- 
ceeded by Geo. W. Craddock. 

1875-1879: — James B. McCreary, governor; John C. Under- 
wood, lieutenant-governor; J. Stoddard Johnston, sec- 
retary. 

1879-1883: — Luke P, Blackburn, governor; James E. Can- 
trill, lieutenant-governor; Sanuiel B. Churchill, secre- 
tary, succeeded by James Blackburn. 

1883-1887: — J. Proctor Knott, governor; James R. Hind- 
man, lieutenant-governor; James A. McKenzie, secre- 
tary. 

1887-1891: — Simon B. Buckner, governor; James W. Brj^an, 
lieutenant-governor; George M. Adams, secretary. 

1891-1895: — John Young Brown, governor (first governor 
under constitution of 1890-91, and served four years, 
three months, and nine days); Mitchell C. Alford, lieu- 
tenant-governor; John W. Headley, secretary. 

1895-1899:— Wm. O. Bradley, governor; W. J. Worthing- 
ton, lieutenant-governor; Charles Finley, secretary. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES, COMMENTS, ETC. 



3()r) 



H. Increase of Populatiou in Kentucky by Periods 
During 115 Years. — 



YKAK. 


POPULATION. 


incri:ask. 


1775 


300 
30,000 




1784 


29,700 


1700 


73,G77 


43,677 


1800 


222,955 


149,278 


1810 


406,571 


183,616 


1820 


564,135 


157,564 


1830 


687,917 


123,782 


1840 


779,828 


92,111 


1850 


982,405 


202,577 


18()0 


1,155,684 


173,279 


1870 


1,321,011 


165,327 


1880 


1,648,690 


327,697 


18t)0 


1,858,635 


209,945 



HI. AVorks Consulted in the Preparation of This Book. — 

The author acknowledges his indebtedness to the following 
valuable sources of information: Histories of Kentucky, by 
Butler, Marshall, Arthur & Carpenter, Perrin & Battle, Smith, 
Shaler, Allen, Collins, and Miss Kinkead; Metcalfe's Narra- 
tives of Indian Warfare; McAfee's History of the War of 
1812 ; Prentice's Life of Henry Clay; Lives of Daniel Boone, 
by Filson, Flint, Bogart, Hartley, and others; Toulmin's 
Description of Kentucky; Clark's Account of his Campaign 
in Illinois; Darnell's Journal of Winchester's Campaign; 
Atherton's Narrative; Biography of Col. Richard M. John- 
son ; Obituary Addresses on the Occasion of the Re-interment 
of Scott, Barry, and Ballard; and the Filson Club's Centenary 
of Kentucky, Centenary of Louisville, and the Political Club. 



20 



306 



YOUNG PEOPLE S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



IV. United States 

John Brown 1792 to 

John Edwards 1792 to 

Humphrey Marshall 1795 to 

John Breckinridge 1801 to 

John Adair ...1805 to 

John Buckuer ThrustonlS05 to 

riSOf) to 
Henry Clay «' J° 

1 1849 to 
John Pope 1807 to 

G^o-M-Bibb {liiJfo" 

Jesse Bledsoe 1813 to 

George Walker 1814 to 

Wm. T. Barry 1815 to 

Isham Talbot { ]^ [^ 

Martin D. Hardin 1816 to 

f 1817 to 

John J. Crittenden... -j \lf^ \l 
[ 1855 to 



Senators From Kentucky. 

1805 Wra. Logan 1819 to 1820 

1795 Richard M. Johnson 1820 to 1829 

1801 John Rowan 1825 to 1831 

1805 James T. Morehead 1841 to 1847 

1800 Joseph R. Underwood. 1847 to 1853 

1809 Thomas Metcalfe 1848 to 1849 

1807 David Merriwether 1852 to 1853 

1811 Archibald Dixon 1852 to 1855 

1852 J^^^^^ ^- Thompson 1853 to 1859 

2g^3 Lazarus W. Powell 1859 to 1865 

1814 John C. Breckinridge ...1861 to 

1835 GaiTett Davis 1861 to 1872 

1815 James Guthrie 1865 to 1868 

1815 Thomas C. McCreery....l868 to 1871 

1816 John W. Stevenson 1871 to 1877 

1819 Willis B. Machen 1873 to 1875 

1825 James B. Beck 1877 to 1890 

1817 John S. Williams 1879 to 1885 

1819 Jos. C. S. Blackburn ...1885 to 1897 

1841 John Griffin Carlisle 1890 to 1893 

1801 ^^^- Lindsay 1893 to 



NOTE TO TKACnEKS. 307 



NOTE TO TEACHERS 

—WITH— 

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS. 



To those who use this work in the schools the author 
desires to call attention to his design, and what seems to him 
judicious as to method to be observed in employing it as a 
class-l)ook. 

It will be noted that whatever it contains in addition to the 
regular historical narrative is given in the form of personal 
sketches, incidents, etc., as supplementary to the several chap- 
ters. In class- work the attention of pupils ought to be called 
to this as simply biographical, anecdotal, and explanatory 
recreations — at first to be taken up at will, and not being matter 
for <]uest ions until the regular text has been studied by set les- 
sons and in connected form throuo-hout. After the general 
subject has been studied and so well mastered that the suggest- 
ive questions which follow this note, with such others as 
teachers find necessary in developing the text, can be intelli- 
gently answered, the supplementar}^ matter should be taken 
up as a second course of reading and pupils be required to tell 
in their own way what they have found therein. This is indi- 
cated by the direction at the conclusion of the suggestive ques- 
tions on each chapter, "Tell what you have learned by read- 
ing personal sketches, incidents, etc., etc., at the end of 
chapter," so and so. Of course the judicious teacher will 
frame such questions as will touch upon all the subjects treated, 
and bring oul whatever impressions 1h(>. class may have gained 
in })ursiung the secondary or su[)plementary study. 



308 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

To another niiitter allow luc to call your particular atten- 
tion. The importance of geogra[)hical knowledge as preliminary 
to the study of history and in connection therewith is too 
often overlooked. To study history without the ability to tix 
in mind definitely the connection between events and the places 
of their occurrence leaves but vague impressions. It is like 
sailing the seas without chart and compass. Before studying 
the history of Kentucky a i)upil ought to be required to describe 
all the principal water- courses, bounding the state and having 
their course inland, as well as to locate the state by latitude 
and longitude and by surrounding states. Next, he should be 
required to answer the following and similar questions, in order 
to have clearly in mind the places where historical events 
occurred: Where is Powell's Valley? Where is the valley of 
the Holston? Describe the Ilolston river and the Wataga 
branch of that stream. Where is Cumberland Gap ? Where 
was Boonesborough ? Where was Harrodstown ? Where was 
St. Asaph's or Logan's Station? Where is Limestone (now 
Maysville)? Where is Washington (the site of Kenton's 
Station)? Where is Frankfort? Where is Lexington? Where 
was Bryan's Station? Where was Floyd's Station? Where 
was Painted Stone or Squire Boone's Station? Where was 
Estill's Station? Where is Little mountain? Where was 
McAfee's Station? Where is Elkhorn creek? Where is Mul- 
drauo-h's Hill? Where is Munf ordville ? Where is Perry ville? 
Where is Wild-Cat mountain? Where is Ivy mountain? 
Where is Mill Spring or Logan's Cross Roads? Where is 
Fishing creek? Where is Richmond? Where is Cynthiana? 
Where is Corn Island? Describe the Wabash river. The 
Tippecanoe. Where is Kaskaskia? Where is Cahokia? Where 
is St. Vincent's or Vincennes? Where is Detroit? Where 
is Maiden ? Where is the Thames river ? Where is the Maumee 
river? Where are the Maumee rapids? Where is the River 
Raisin? Where was Frenchtown? Where was Fort Meigs? 
Where was Fort Stephenson ? Where is Bass Island ? Where 



NOTK TO TEACHERS. 309 

is Mild river? Descrihc the i^rcat Miami river and locate. Old 
Chillicothe? Where was Fallen Tiinl)er, the site of Wayne's 
victory? Where is Greenville, Ohio? Where arc the Blue 
Licks ? Where are the Falls of Ohio ? Where is Royal Spring, 
the site of McClelland's Station? 

To find all the places indicated by the preceding questions 
will recjuire an athis, as well as the small nia}) of Kentucky herein 
published, as maps of several states will have to be studied, under 
directions and with the assistance of the teacher ; and a good 
exercise for a class is for the teacher to encourage the several 
members to emulate each other in finding for themselves, 
before applying to him for aid, and by using an atlas in con- 
nection with this history, the several points named and the 
historical events with which each is connected. 

It will be noted that in the Table of Contents and in the 
following questions the history of the state is divided into six 
periods. This, though fairly logical, is designed rather for 
convenience in connecting marked events with special eras 
than for indicating strictly natural divisions. 



310 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 

(The numerals refer to paragraphs in whicli the answers are to be found.) 

FIRST period: from the EARLIEST VISIT OF WHITE MEN TILL 

THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 

Chapter I. — 1, Define history. 3. Give in your own language the 
Frencli gentleman's idea of what one's country is. 5. Give the Federal 
general's explanation of why Kentuekians make faithful soldiers. 10. 
How besides in war have Kentuekians displayed high qualities? How 
many Kentuekians have been ambassadors, foreign ministers, etc.? 
How many have held high command in the United States army and 
navy? How many were generals of volunteers in the Federal army 
during the civil war? How many in the Confederate army? How many 
have been heads of departments and ofiicers of the United States gov- 
ernment? How many have been judges of the United States Supreme 
Court? How many have been governors and lieutenant-governors of 
other states and territories? How many have represented other states 
in Congress? How many have been presidents of universities and col- 
leges in other states? How many have been president of the Senate 
and vice-president of the United States? Of what state were Lincoln 
and Davis natives? 12. How besides in office-holding has this quality of 
leadership been manifested? 13. Name some Kentucky traits that indi- 
cate nobility of character. 

Give in your own language what you find in Notes and Comments at 
the end of first chapter. 

Chapter II. — 1. Why in the study of history is a knowledge of geog- 
raphy important? 2. What does geography in its larger sense embrace? 
3. Between what parallels and meridians does Kentucky lie? Bound 
Kentucky. Give mean length and breadth; number of square miles; 
number of acres. 4. Describe the surface. 5. How do Kentucky's 
water-ways compare in extent with those of other states? 6. Name the 
principal rivers, and their navigable extent. What rivers lie along the 
borders? Name the lesser rivers that are navigable in high water and 
can be made so for two or three thousand miles. 7. To what great river 
system do the Ohio and its tributaries belong? What is the general di- 
rection oi Kentucky's water-shed? 8. From what have the soils been 
mainly derived? Wliich are in general most productive? Where is the 
great body of blue-grass land? What proportion of Kentucky is unfit for 
agricultural purposes? 9. Describe the climate. What is the average 
rainfall? 10. What is said of the comparative size of Kentuekians? 11. 
What is said of the products? 12. What proportion of the state is still 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 311 

covered with forests? l.J. How many formations or beds does the geo- 
logical structure embrace? How many coal-fields? Of what extent are 
they? Where do they lie? Name the principal minerals. 14. What is 
said of salt licks or springs? 15. What is said of game? 16. What is 
said of the scenery? 17. Name some of the natural curiosities. 18. Was 
Kentucky inhabited by the Indians when the white man came? What 
memorials of a pre-historic race have been found? 19. How many well- 
defined relics have been found, and in how many counties? 20. What 
evidences of a gigantic species of animals have been found? 21. What 
proportion of the land was covered by an almost unbroken forest when 
the white man came? 22. Name some animals and birds found. 23. Of 
what descent is the chief part of the population? From what states did 
the pioneers come? What is said of the Scotch-Irish and the Huguenots? 
24. What is the probable oi-igin of the term "Dark and Bloody Ground?" 

Chapter III. — 1. Who was the first known white visitor to Kentucky, 
and in what year did he come? 2. In what year did Gist find white men 
on both sides of the Ohio? Where and by whom was the first cabin 
built in Kentucky? 3. What is said of Christopher Gist, his surveys, 
and the first map made? 4. Who were the first white women in Ken- 
tucky, and when were they here? 5. Who made the first surveys in the 
Ohio valley southward? 6. Give an account of John Finley's coming. 
8,9,10,11. Give some account of how white men acquired a claim to 
Kentucky. 12. When did Daniel Boone and his five companions come? 
13. Give an account of the capture and escape of some of them and the 
death of the others. Of Squire Boone's finding his brother. Of Stew- 
art's death. Of the probable fate of -the man who came with Squire 
Boone. 14, 15. Of Boone's being left alone in the wilderness; of Squire 
Boone's return; of their travels in central Kentucky; and their return 
to North Carolina. 10. Give an account of the Knox party — what parts 
of the state they were in, their trading expedition, etc. 17. Wliat was 
the result of Boone's first attempt to bring families to Kentucky? 18. 
What is said of Thomas Bullitt's visit? 19. What places did the McAfee 
brothers visit in 1773, and what of their work? 21. What of Kenton's 
first coming? 22, 23. Who led hunters and surveyors into Kentucky in 
1774? Give an account of the founding of Harrodstown, and of Indian 
attack on some of the party. 24. What of Hancock Taylor? 25. Who 
was sent to warn the settlers to return to Virginia, and why? Give an 
account of the battle of Point Pleasant. 

State what you have learned in reading Personal Sketches, etc., at 
end of Chapter III. 

Chapter IV. — 1. Who organized the Transylvania Company? 2. Give 
an account of the company: (a) Of how many members composed; (b) 
Where and when treaty was made and with what Indian tribe; (c) 
what price was paid. 3. What was the character of road Boone was 



812 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

engaged to mark oiit? 4. Where did Boone and his party l)uild the 
Boonesborough .stockade? When was the work completed? 5. Give an 
account of the Boonesborough convention of May 23rd, 1775: (a) What 
settlements were represented in it; (b) What business was transacted; 
(c) What supplies the company took upon itself to furnish, etc. 6, 7. 
What caused the people to become dissatisfied with the agreement with the 
company"? Did the convention ever re-assemble? What view was taken 
of the Wataga purchase by the governors of Virginia and North Car- 
olina? Who influenced the Virginia Assembly to declare it null and 
void? 7. When was the act passed by the Virginia Assembly formally 
setting it aside and granting the company a compensation in lands on 
Green river? 8. When did Kenton return to Kentucky, and where did 
he and Williams build a cabin? Give an accoixnt of Fitzpatrick and Hen- 
dricks. 9. When did Harrod come back to Harrodstown? Wliere did 
Floyd locate? Wliere did Logan locate? Wlien was Lexington named 
and why so called? 10. Wliat three important settlements had been 
made by the time the revolutionary war had fairly begun? 

Give account of what you have learned from reading Personal 
Sketches, etc., at the end of Chapter IV. 

SECOND PERIOD : KENTUCKY DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 

Chapter V. — 1. What were the Kentucky pioneers doing during the 
eight years of the revolutionary war? 2. What is said of pioneers who 
fought under General Lewis at Point Pleasant, and of Lewis' victory? 
Name some Kentuckians who were with him. 3. Name some surveyors and 
settlers of 1775 and where stations were established. 4. When did Boone 
bring his own, with other families, to Boonesborough? 5. Wliat families 
came to Harrodstown in 1775? Wliat stations were now made homelike 
by the presence of women and children? 6. Tell of George Rogers 
Clark's first visit to Kentucky. 7. Wlien did Clark come the second 
time? Where and when was a meeting held at his suggestion, and for 
what purpose? Who were chosen by the meeting to act as agents to the 
Virginia Legislature? 8. Give an account of their journey to Williams- 
burgh, Virginia. 9. When Clark laid his plan before Governor Henry what 
view did he take of it? What did Clark apply to the Executive Council for? 
10. Tell what action the council took, and why? What did Clark then 
determine to do? 11. What did the council do after receiving Clark's 
letter refusing to accept the loan? What was done with the powder? 
What did Clark and Jones induce the Virginia Legislature to do? 12. 
Explain how the supply of powder at length reached Harrodstown. 
Wlien was Kentucky made a county of Virginia? 13. Of what impor- 
tance was the result of Clark's mission to the Virginia Assembly? Why 
did the people of Kentucky wisli Virginia to assume control of the ter- 
ritory? 14. Name some small settlements made in 1770. 15. Tell the story 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 313 

of the I'Mptiire and rescue of the Calloway and Boone girls. IG. What 
of Indian attacks in the sununer of 1770? What of the adventure of 
Robert Patterson and others? 17. What of the attack on McClelland's 
Station? 18. Give an account of the attack on the working party near 
Shawnee Springs in March, 1777. 19. What is said of the attack on 
Boonesboi-ou.gh? 20. Tell of the attack on Logan's Station in May, 1777. 
21. Of Logan's di'iving the Indians from Flat Lick, and of his being 
wounded. 22. Of the driving of Indians from the neighborhood of 
Boonesborough bj'^ Major Smith. Of the attack on Boonesborough, July 
4th, 1777. 23. Of the manner in which the Indians annoyed the people 
of Harrodstown, and how they were driven off by Clark. 24. Who were 
chosen members of the Virginia Legislature for Kentucky county in 
1777? 25. What of the attack on the hemp and tlax breakers at Hink- 
ston's? 2(3. Of the organized force of spies and scouts, and its purpose? 
27. Why did Clark send spies to Detroit and other places, and what did 
they discover? For what purpose did he make a visit to Virginia? 
What authority did he receive? 28. When was the fii'st court held in- 
Kentucky county, and where? Who was made colonel of the militia? 
How many stations remained at the close of 1777? 30. Tell the story of 
the salt-makers at Blue Licks in January, 1778. Of Boone's capture. 
Of the capture of others, and what was done with them. How many 
escaped, and how ? What was done with Boone ? What made him resolve 
to escape? What of his journey to Boonesborough? 31. Give an account 
of Boone's expedition to Paint Creek town. Of the siege of Boones- 
borough bythe French and Indians under Captain Du Quesne. 32, Give 
an account of Clark's preparations to take British posts. With how 
many men did he set out from Corn Island? 33. Give an account of his 
capture of Kaskaskia. 34. Of the capture of Cahokia. 35. How did he 
provide for the civil control of the territory by Virginia? 3G. By 
whose assistance did he get control of St. Vincent's? Who was placed 
in command at St. Vincent's? Who was sent back to build a fort on 
the present site of Louisville? 37, When was the territory of which 
Clark had taken possession organized as a county of Virginia, and who 
was made govei*nor? 38. What British officer with four hundred men 
compelled Captain Helm and his one private to surrender St. Vincent's? 
Tell what you have learned in reading Personal Sketches at the end 
of Chapter V. 

Chapter VI.— 1. Tell of Clark's retaking St. Vincent's. 2. Of what 
city did Robert Patterson lay the foundation in 1779? Who was the first 
white woman at Lexington? Who established Bryan's Station, and 
what became of the lea(h'r? Who w^as his wife? 3. Name some other 
settlements made in 1779, and by whom. 4. Give an account of Bow- 
man's expedition against Indian towns. 5. Give mi account of the 
attacks on Indians bv David Rogia-s and his keel-boat crews at the 



314 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

mouth of the Licking. 0. What is said of the hard winter, 1779-80? 
7. ilow many stations on Beargrass creek in the spring of 1780, and 
how many persons arrived at the Falls? 8. Give an account of the capt- 
ure of Ruddle's Station. 9. What retaliation was made by Clark? 
10. When was Louisville incorporated by act of the Virginia Legisla- 
ture? 11, When and by whom was Fort Jefferson on the Mississippi 
built? 12. When was Kentucky county divided into three counties, and 
what were the three named? 13. Tell the story of the siege of Fort 
Jefferson by the Chickasaws. 14. What of troubles on account of 
the Indians, in what are now Jefferson and Shelby counties? Who 
made pursuit to punish the savages, and with what result? 15. Give an 
account of Squire Boone's removal from Painted Stone, and of Floyd's 
fight with the Indians who had attacked Boone's party. 16. When did 
Squire Boone re-occupy Painted Stone, and how did the station come 
to be known as Lynch's? 17. Tell of the killing of Miss Gass at Estill's 
Station; of the capture of the negro man; and the defenseless condi- 
tion of the place. 18, 19. Tell the story of the battle of Little Mountain. 
20. To which party was the fight most deadly? 21. Wliat of Captain 
Holder's attack and defeat? 22. Where was Bryan's Station? How 
were the men there engaged while Girty and his Indians were con- 
cealing themselves near the fort on the night of August 14th, 1782? 
Tell of the occurrence next morning, and in what condition the stockade 
was as to the walls, and where the supply of water was to be had. 23. 
Give an account of what was immediately done. For what purposes 
other than drinking and cooking was water necessary? 24. Tell how a 
supply of water was obtained. 25. Explain how the Indians were 
drawn from ambush and exposed to the fire of the whites. 26. What 
befell the men from the Lexington Station before the main body of 
them got inside the stockade at Bryan's? 27. What of Girty's tj:-ying to 
frighten the garrison to surrender, and of his retreat? 28. What of 
arrangements to pursue the savages'? 29. Who commanded the pur- 
suing force? When did the pursuers come in sight of the Indians at 
Lower Blue Licks? Why did Todd and others insist on waiting for 
Colonel Logan? How was the forward movement suddenly brought on*? 
30, 31, 32. Describe the battle of Blue Licks. 33. How many of the 
whites were killed, wounded, and captured? What leading men were 
among the killed? What effect did the disaster have upon the settle- 
ments in Kentucky? 35. Give an account of the attack on Samuel Daveiss 
and the capture and rescue of his wife and children. 36. What of the 
attack on Kineheloe's? 37. Tell of Clark's expedition against the Indian 
towns on the Miami. 38. What Indian atrocities other than those 
already noticed were committed during the year 1782? 

Give the accounts of men and women which you have learned in Per- 
sonal Sketches, etc., at the end of Chapter VI. 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS OK THE GENERAL TEXT. .^15 

THIRD period: FROM THE CLOSK OF THE REVOLUTION TILL 
KENTU(;KY' became a STATE. 

Chaptkr VII.— 1, When was tlie treaty of peace between the United 
States and Enjjhmd agreed on and signed? When did the news reach 
Kentucky? Wliat had Kentucky pioneers accomplished by this time? 
2. What is said of increase of popuhxtion, establishing land offices, 
locating claims, and the trouble that came of having no regular 
system of surveys? 3. When were the three Kentucky counties made 
one judicial district? Who were the judges appointed, the clerk, and 
when and where was the first district court? 4, 5. What matter now 
became of more consequence to Kentuckians than even courts and 
county officers? 6, 7, 8. State the conditions prevailing at the time sep- 
aration was agitated, and show why the people were impatient of 
restraint and that there was some uncertainty as to their interests and 
their duty. 9. Who suggested that a preliminary meeting be held to 
consider the condition of the district, and where and when was it held? 
10. When was the first formal convention to consider separation held? 
What was done? 11. When was the second held? Why did action seem 
to be urgent? Wliat did Virginia do? What was done by the Kentucky 
convention? 12. Into what two parties were the people now divided? 
13. Wlien did the third convention meet? Why was business delayed? 
What were the new provisions made by the Virginia Assembly, and 
what did they cause? 14. What effect did these changes and delays 
have on the people? What increased their dissatisfaction? 15, 16. 
Give some account of General Wilkinson's conduct. What is said of 
the Spanish conspiracy? 17. When was the fourth convention held, 
and what did it do? 18. How did the Kentucky delegates to the Virginia 
convention vote on the question of adopting the United States consti- 
tution? 19. What did the old Congress (that prior to 1789) do with the 
question of admitting Kentucky to the Union? 20. When did the fifth 
convention meet? What new occasions of disappointment and anger 
appear? What did the convention do? 21. What did Virginia's third 
act of separation require? 22. When did the sixth convention meet? 
What did it do? 24. When did the eighth convention meet? What did 
it do? 25. When did Congress pass the act to admit Kentucky? 2G. 
When did the ninth convention to adopt a state constitution meet? 
When did Kentucky become a state? 27. Who was president of eight 
of the conventions to consider separation? Who was clerk of all? 28. 
What is said of the conduct of the people of Kentucky during Uieii- 
seven years of disappointment and temptation? 29. Give an account of 
the Political Club. 30, 31. What were probably the views of the 
English people as to the result of the revolutionary war? Tell the story 
of the British agent in Kentucky. 

Tell what you have learned by reading Personal Sketches, etc., at 
the end of Chapter VII. 



310 YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

Chapter VIII. -1. Whutissuidof the years 1783, 1784, 1785? 2. What 
of irruptions of small bodies of savages? 3. What of murders and 
other outrages by Indians in 1783 and the years immediately following? 

4, By whom and when was a block-house l)uilt where ]\Iaysville now is? 

5. What instances of conflicts with Indians in 1784-85, in different locali- 
ties? 6. What of Colonel Christian's fight? 7. ^Hiat of attacks in 
different places during 1786? 8, 9. Give an account of Clark's last 
expedition against the Indians. 10. Tell of Col. Ben Logan's expe- 
dition against the Shawnees. 11. Give an account of the attack on the 
family of Mrs. Skeggs, in Bourbon county. 12. On John Merrill, in 
Nelson county, and on settlements elsewhere. What of Col. John 
Todd's expedition? 13, 14. Tell the story of the Salt river fight near 
the mouth of the Rolling Fork. 15. Of the killing of tlie Ballard family. 
10. "V^nuit is said of Indian raids, etc., in 1787, 1788, and 1789? Of the 
conduct of the British on the Canada border? 17. Of attacks on small 
stations and on emigrant boats in 1790? 18. Tell of the expedition 
made by General Scott in concert with Harmar, in April, 1790. 19, 20. 
Give an account of Harmar' s disastrous expedition in September, 1790, 
and of his conduct while in command. 21. What effect did this expe- 
rience with Harmar have on the minds of Kentuckians? What did they 
petition for? Wlio were the members of the Board of War provided in 
1791 by Congress? 22. Give an account of General Scott's expedition 
in May, 1791, against Indians on the Wabash. 23. Of the expedition 
under Wilkinson, Hardin, and McDowell in August, 1791. 24, 25. Who 
was made governor of the Northwest Territory in March, 1791, and given 
command of regular troops for a campaign against the Indians? What 
of attacks by predatory bands? 26, 27, 28. Tell the story of Captain 
Hubbell's battle on the river above Maysville, March 24th, 1791. 29, 30, 
31, 32. Give an account of St. Clair's expedition, defeat, and retreat. 
Wliy did Kentuckians refuse to enlist vmder him? What was the con- 
duct of Kentuckians when news reached them that volunteers were 
needed to relieve the survivors of St. Clair's army. 

Tell what you have learned by reading Personal Sketches, etc., at the 
end of Chapter VIII. 

FOURTH period: SEVEN YEARS UNDER THE FIRST 
CONSTITUTION. 

Chapter IX. — 1. Who was the first governor of Kentucky? 2. What 
was the probable population when Kentucky became a state? 3. When 
and where did the first legislature meet? How many counties were there 
then? How many representatives and senators comprised the legisla- 
ture? Wlio were the members of the committee to locate state capital? 
Wlio wei'e elected first United States senators? 4. What is said oi In- 
dian troubles? 5, Tell of Major Adair's expedition across the Ohio. 



SUGGESTIV?: QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 317 

6. Give an jiccouiit of the murder of Hardin and Truman. 7. Of the 
attack on Morgan's Station. 8. Of Captain Whitley's expedition in con- 
nection witli Colonel Orr. 9, 10. What is said of the o('currences of 
1793 and the conduct of the French minister Genet? 11, 12. What two 
causes operated to make Kentuckians anxious to aid the French? 
12. What is said of clubs in Kentucky similar to Jacobin clubs iji France? 
14. For what purpose did Genet send agents to Kentucky? What put 
a stop to their work here? 15. Who succeeded St. Clair as governor of 
the Northwest Territory? How was his call for volunteers treated by 
Kentuckians, and why? How were the Kentucky troops raised? Who 
commanded them? Why did the Kentuckians return after going to join 
Wayne? IG. What impression did they get of Wayne while with him at 
Fort Jefferson? When General Scott was called on in the siimmer of 
1784 to rejoin him, how many men did he have instead of the thousand 
first called for? What was Wayne's force when he began his move- 
ment? What Avas the result of the battle of Fallen Timber? What 
effect did Wayne's victory have on the Indians? Where was the treaty 
made Avhich put an end foi-ever to Indian raids into Kentucky? 
17. "\rMiat two other important events occurred in 1794-95? 18. What 
further efforts did the Spanish make to induce Kentucky to form 'an 
alliance with their government? ^Hiat success did Power have in his 
mission ? 19. Who was elected governor in 1796, and v.diat Avas at that 
time the condition of the state? 20. Explain the alien and sedition 
laws, and state how Kentuckians regarded them. 20. What led Con- 
gress to pass them? 21. TeU what you understand to be meant by the 
resolutions of 1798. 22. What can you tell of the trouble between 
France and the United States during the last three years of the last cen- 
tury? 23. What is said of the "Great Revival"? 24. When were elec- 
tions held to take the sense of the people on the question of calling a 
Constitutional convention? When did the convention meet? When 
was the second constitution reported, and when did it go into effect? 

Tell what you have learned by reading Personal Sketches, etc., at 
the end of Chapter IX. 

FIFTH PERIOD : FIFTY YEARS UNDER THE SECOND 
CONSTITUTION. 

Chapter X. — 2. "N^Tiat was the feeling of the people of Kentucky 
against banking institutions and bank-notes, and why? How did it 
happen that an institution with a banking feature was chartered by the 
legislature of ]801-2, notwithstanding the prejudice of the people? 
Wlu'U was the Bank of Kentucky regularly chartered? 3. What is said 
of the suspension of the right of deposit at New Orleans in 1802? 
4. How was the excitement allayed during the next year? 5, 6. When 
did Aaron Burr come to Kentucky, and what scheme was he engaged 



31.S YOUNG people's HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

in? 7. Give an account of the United States attorney's efforts to bring 
him to trial. 8, 9. Give the incidents of his trial and acquittal and his 
standing with the people. 10. How did the people in general regard 
Daveiss' efforts to bring Burr to justice? How did they celebrate 
Burr's acquittal? How was the vindication of Daveiss' course soon 
made to appear? 11. How did Burr deceive his honorable counsel, 
Clay and Allen? What preparation had been made while he was under 
trial in Frankfort? 12. What was the probable extent of his schemes? 
13, 11. What is said of Keutuckians accused of having been connected 
with him? What of Burr's arguments and his false pretenses to de- 
ceive them? 15. What was learned by investigating charges against 
Judge Sebastian? 16, 17. Give some account of General Harrison's 
expedition against Indians under The Prophet, and of Kentucky's part 
in the battle of Tippecanoe. 

Tell what you have learned in reading Personal Sketches, etc., at 
the end of Chapter X. 

Chapter XI. — 1. What was the main cause of a second war with 
Great Britain? 2. What disposition did the English people manifest 
towards the United States for a long time after the revolution? How 
did the enmity of France and England towards each other benefit Amer- 
ican commerce? 3. What i-auk did the United States hold among com- 
mercial nations before the war of 1812 began? 6. On what theory did 
Great Britain claim the right to search American vessels and press the 
men into the British navy? How many American vessels were seized 
by British ships of war? 5. When did the president declare war? 
6. Wliat was the feeling among Keutuckians? 7. Wlien Kentucky's 
quota of troops was fixed at fifty-five hundred, how many volunteered? 
Who commanded the four regiments? Instead of the fifteen hundred 
who were wanted to re-enforce Hull how many enlisted? Tell of Hull's 
disgraceful surrender. Wliat effect did it produce in Kentucky? What 
force volunteai'ed to march against Indians in Illinois? What was the 
result of this expedition? 8. What step did Governor Scott take to pro- 
vide against a movement of British and Indians towards the Kentucky 
border? 9. Tell of the advance on Fort Wayne. Of the destruction of 
Indian towns and crops by Kentucky troops. Of the difficulty of mov- 
ing, which prevented important action till January, 1813. 10. Give an 
account of the fighting at Freuehtown,onthe Raisin river, January 18th. 
Of the enemy's attack on Mills in his exposed canip, January 21st. Of 
the gallant conduct of Keutuckians in sallying out and trying to save 
the regulars, and how they sviffered in conseqi\ence. 12. Of how Major 
Madison and Major Graves Avere forced to surrender the stockade, and 
of the massacre of wounded prisoners. Name some of the wounded 
officers who were murdered there. What feeling did these atrocities 
awaken in Kentucky? 13. Give the facts as to Governor Shelby's tak- 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 319 

ing the field in person and i-e-enforeing General Harrison at Fort Meigs. 
14. Give the facts in connection Avith tlie sending of Colonel Dudley to 
attack batteries on tlie north shore of the Maumee, and of his defeat. 
Of the massacre of prisoners and the conduct of Tecumseh in stopping 
it. IG. ^Miat was illustrated by Dudley's defeat? 17, 18. What of 
Proctor's second siege of Fort Meigs? Tell the story of Colonel Cro- 
ghan's defense of Fort Stephenson. 19. What is said of Kentucky sharp- 
shooters Avith Commodore Perry, during the battle on Lake Erie? 
20. "WTien the British and Indians withdrew into Canada, where did Gen- 
eral Harrison force them to fight? What is said of the numbers of the 
two armies and tlie advantage of position? What chief commanded the 
Indians? What is said of his experience and ability? 21. From what 
state were most of Harrison's troops? What is said of Colonel John- 
son's mounted regiment? 22, 2:5. Describe the battle of the Thames, 
and state what the Kentuekians had now achieved. 24. Give an account 
of Mc Arthur's campaign and of the Kentucky volunteers with him. 26. In 
what quarter was Kentucky next called iipon for help ? Give the facts 
as to regiments sent by Governor Shelby to General Andrew Jackson. 
26. Who commanded the main body of Kentuekians at the battle of New 
Orleans? 27. When was the treaty of peace made which was meant to 
terminate the war of 1812? Why was the battle of New Orleans fought 
after peace was made? 

Tell Avhat you have learned by reading Personal Sketches, etc., at 
the end of Chapter XL 

Chapter XII. — 1. How long did Governor Madison live after his 
inauguration? ^\1mt cxuestion was raised after he died ? 2. What impor- 
tant matter was I'ecommended by Governor Slaughter in his message to 
the legislature? When was the treaty made with the Chickasaws by 
which the Purchase became lawfully a part of Kentucky, and why was 
it called the Jackson Purchase? 3. ^Miat was the condition of Ken- 
tucky for some years after the close of the war of 1812? 4. What was 
the effect of adopting the free-banking system? 5, 6. ^lien the people 
found themselves in financial embarrassment and distress, what actAvas 
passed to afford relief? 7, 8. \Miat additional legislation was had in 
1820-21? 9. What was the decision of two of the Circuit Courts relative 
to legislative acts which interfered with the collection of debts or pro- 
vided for payments not in accordance with contract? Wliat was the 
judgment of the Court of Appeals as to these decisions? What effect 
did the opinion of the Court of Appeals have on the minds of the peo- 
ple ? 10. Into Avhat two parties were tlie people now divided ? What party 
was successful in 1824? How did the legislature dispose of the Couii; 
of Appeals and organize a new one? What did tlie old court do? 
"WHiicli party was successful in 1835? Why did not the legislature re- 
peal the act by Avhich the new court had been created? Which party 



320 YOUNG I'EOrLE'S HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. 

triumphed in 1826? What did the legislature of 1826-27 do with re- 
spet^t to the old court? How were the decisions of the new court after- 
ward treated? 11. What is said of LaFayette's visit to Kentucky? 
12. What is said of the work of internal improvements, for which pro- 
vision was made by the legislature in January, 1827? How many miles 
of railroad now in Kentucky? Of turnpike and gravel roads? 13, 14. 
(xive an account of the monetary panic of 1837-42. 15. What was 
the gi-eat issue of the presidential election of 1844? Who was the 
candidate of the Whig party? 

Tell what you have learned by reading Personal Sketches, etc., at 
the end of Chapter XH. 

Chapter XIII.— 1. What is said of Kentucky's part in the war with 
Mexico? 2. What was the cause of the war? 3. How were the people 
of Texas treated by the Mexican government, and what was the result? 
When was the independence of Texas acknowledged by the United 
States? 4. When was Texas annexed to the United States? When the 
president was asked to send troops to protect the new state against 
Mexico what general was ordered to occupy it with part of the regular 
army? 5. How and when did the war begin? 6. What was the attitude 
of Kentuckians in general on the question of annexation and probable 
war? When war was begun what effect was produced in Kentucky? 
Tell what preparations were made to furnish men and money. 7. How 
many volunteers were called for by Governor Owsley, and how long 
before the requisition was met? How many companies were organized 
altogether? Howmany in excess of what the governor wanted? 8. What 
Kentuckians were appointed to high military command, and which 
ones already held commissions in the regular army? Who were the 
field officers of the three regiments accepted? How was Williams' 
company accepted? 10. What additional Kentuckians were enlisted? 
11. Who were the field officers of the two additional regiments called 
for in 1847? Did these regiments reach Mexico in time to take part in 
the fighting? 12. How many of these volunteer Kentuckians in the 
Mexican war attained to eminence during the civil war? 13. What of 
Kentucky troops at the taking of Monterey? 14 and 17, Wliat propor- 
tion of the American army that won the victory at Buena Vista were 
Kentuckians? What was Taylor's force? What was Santa Anna's? 15. 
What is said of the fighting on February 22nd, 1847, and the part taken by 
Kentuckians in the great battle of the 23rd? 16. Describe the action of 
the First Kentucky Cavalry. 18. What service was rendered during the 
war by Williams' company? 19. Who of the Kentuckians were capt- 
ured and imprisoned? 20. What is said of Kentucky's regard for those 
Avhofell in Mexico? 21. What is said of cherishing the memoiyof those 
wlio fall in defeiise of tlieir country? 22. Grive an account of the steps 
taken to form the third state constitution; of its adoption, and the time 



SUGGESTIVK QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 321 

of itsgfoing into effect. 23. What was the chief cause of dissatisfaction 
with the constitution of 1799? What change did the one of 1849-50 
make in this particular? 

Give account of what you have learned by reading Personal Sketches, 
etc., at the end of Chapter XIII. 

SIXTH PEKIOD: forty YEARS UNDER THE THIRD CONSTITUTION 
AND SIX UNDER THE FOURTH. 

Chapter XIV.— 1. Wliat is said of the slavery question? 2. What of 
the financial disturbance of 1851-57? 3. What of the manifestation of 
military ardor in Kentucky during the Utah insurrection? 4. What is 
said of the attitude of Kentuckians towards each other before the civil 
war? 5. What of that during the civil war? 6. What was the great 
underlying cause of the civil war? Explain the different views of the 
North and the South as to the relation between the general government 
and the several states. 7. What was the immediate cause of the war? 
8. How many candidates for the presidency were before the people iu 
18G0? Which party elected its candidate? 9. What is said of the differ- 
ences between the North and the South on the slavery question? When 
Lincoln was elected what did eleven of the slave states do? 10. How 
did the people of Kentucky stand on the question of secession? What 
position did Kentucky take from the first? What efforts did Senator 
Crittenden make to restore peace? 11. What did Governor Magoffin rec- 
ommend to the legislature which met in called session? What did the 
governor, Senator Breckinridge, and others, believe would avert war? 
Wliat did the legislature do? . 12. What did Governor Magoffin do when 
President Lincoln called for troops to maintain the Union by force? 
How did the people in general regard his action? Were they in favor 
of making war on the South? 13. What of the adjourned session of 
March 20th, 1861? 14. What took place after the call for troops? What 
did the Union men insist that Kentucky should do? 15. What position 
was adopted by the legislature at the adjourned session of May 6th, 1861? 
Explain the meaning of "armed neutrality." By what force was the 
State Guard to be increased? With which section was the State Giiard 
mostly in sympathy? With which was the Home Guard wholly in 
sympathy? 16. Give an account of the state of feeling after the neu- 
trality policy was adopted, and of the action of the men of each party. 

17. When was the state invaded] by troops of the respective armies? 

18. Which party. Union or Southern, was successful at the August 
election, 1861? Which had been successful at the election of June, 1861? 

19. Give an account of the action of the legislature during the called 
session of September, 1861. 20. When was the position of neutrality 
formally abandoned? Who was the commandant of the Department of 
the Cumberland, of which Kentucky wa;s a part? What volunteer force 

21 



322 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

was he authorized to call out and requested to place under command of 
Col. Tlios. L. Crittenden, and for what purpose? 21. How many men 
did Kentucky contribute to the two armies? What proportion of Ken- 
tuckians of the military age enlisted during the war? 

Chapter XV. — 1. What is attempted in this volume as to the history 
of Kentucky soldiers during the war? 2. Who was placed in command 
of the (Confederate) Central Army of Kentucky? When was Bowling 
Green occupied? Describe Johnston's line of opei-ations. What steps 
were taken to obstruct the advance of the Federal forces? 3. Give an 
account of the fight at Wild Cat mountain. 4. At Ivy mountain. 5. Of 
the organization of a provisional government for Kentucky. 6, 7. Of 
the small affairs at Sacramento and other points. 8. Of the action at 
Middle creek. 9. What force did General Buell organize at Louisville? 
Give an account of the battle at Mill Springs. 10. What effect did 
Crittenden's retreat have on Johnston's line of operations? What is 
said of the taking of Fort Henry? 11. Of Fort Donelson? Of John- 
son's evacuation of Bowling Green? 13. Of Buell's occupation of 
Nashville? Of Polk's withdrawal from Columbus? 14. V/hat Kentucky 
regiments fought each other at Donelson? 15. What law was enacted 
against Confederate Kentuckians? What effect did it have? 16, 17. 
Where did Kentuckians fight during the spring and summer of 1862? 
What of Bragg' s plan? 18. Give an account of General Morgan and 
his operations up to June, 1862. 19. Give the incidents and results of 
Morgan's raid through Kentucky in July, 1862. 20. Of Kirby Smith's 
and Morgan's invasion of Kentucky in August, 1862, and the battles of 
Big Hill and Richmond. 21. What action did the legislature take on 
the niglit of August 31st? 22. Where were Kirby Smith's forces concen- 
trated early in September? 23, 24. What Confederate troops were in 
position to interfere with Gen. George Morgan's withdrawal from Cum- 
berland Gap? Describe George Morgan's retreat from the Gap to 
Greenupsburgh. 25. Give an account of Bragg' s advance from Chatta- 
nooga and his capture of Munfordville. 26. Of the condition of the 
army under his immediate command, and the position of Smith with 
other co-operating Confederate troops. Of his withdrawal to Bardstown 
and Buell's march to Louisville. Of the Federal force available by Sep- 
tember 25th, for operations against Bragg. What line did the Confeder- 
ates occupy at this time? 27, 28. What is said of General Heth's ad- 
vance to the vicinity of Covington? Of minor and disconnected en- 
gagements during September. 29. Give an account of Duke's attempt 
to cross the Ohio and the attack made upon him by Federal troops 
under Dr. Bradford. 30, 31, 32. Give the incidents leading up to the 
battle of Perryville, and an account of the battle — its character — and the 
results. 33. What is said of the excitement in Kentucky after the bat- 
tle of Richmond and the capture of Munfordville? Of the hopes and 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. ;523 

fears of the Confederate and the Union people? Of the inauguration of 
the provisional governor? Of the termination of Bragg's campaign? 

Chapter XVI.— 1. Who was now put in command of the Federal 
army, with wliich Biu-U had operated in Kentucky, and at what point 
did he take position? 2, 3. Where did Bragg concentrate his forces? 
Give the incidents and results of Morgan's raid through Kentucky in 
December, 1802. 4. Describe Carter's raid from Winchester into the 
valley of the Holston, December, 1802. 5, 6. Give an account of 
Cluke's and Pegram's raids, 1863. Of affairs in Lawrence county, 
Wayne county, and at Morehead. 7, 8. Give an account of Morgan's 
raid through Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio, in .June and July, 1803. 9. 
Of Forrest's attack on Paducah, March 2.jth, 1864. 10. Of Morgan's raid 
through Kentucky in 1804. 11. Of Morgan's death. 12. Of Lyon's 
operations in Kentucky and on the border during Hood's Nashville 
campaign. 13. What is said of the chief cause of suffering in Kentucky 
during the war? 14. Who were the guerillas, and what of their con- 
duct in Kentucky? 15 What is said of military interference with the civil 
authority? 16. Under control of what party were affairs in Kentucky 
after the early autumn of 1861? 17, 18. State the views of Governor 
Magoffin. How did he conduct himself as chief executive of the state? 
When and why did he resign? What is said of the demands made upon 
Kentucky for men and munitions of war? What of the respect for law and 
order which was manifested under trjang circumstances? What did the 
Washington war office do notwithstanding all this? What is said of 
those placed in military authority? 20. What control were they author- 
ized to exercise? What penalties were to be inflicted upon Confederates 
and southern sympathizers? What advantage was taken of the existing 
state of things by ill-disposed people? What is said of arrests, imprison- 
ment, banishment, etc.? 22. What is said of Governor Robinson? 23. 
Wliat assurance had the Was-hington government given Kentuckians 
before they committed the state to the war policy? How did they 
expect to be dealth with? How were the promises upon which they 
relied disregarded in the matter of slavery? 24. When was martial law 
declared? What is said of the election of 1803? 25. Give some account 
of the acts of the military commandant who succeeded Boyle. 20. What 
is said of deeds of cruelty and extortion in western Kentucky, and the 
result of the investigation made by General Fry and Colonel Brown? 
27. On what account were General Wolford and Colonel Jacob arrested 
by the military authorities? 28. How long did harsh and often cruel mili- 
tary i-ule continue? How was it in some measure removed? 29. What 
is the estimated number of Kentuckians who were killed and who died 
of disease during the war, and of the crippled and otherwise injured? 
30. Give an account of the return of the Confederate Kentuckians after 
the war closed. 31. What action did the legislature take? 

Tell what you have learned from Notes and Comments at the end of 
Chapter XVI. 



324 YOUNG people's history of ItENTUCKY. 

Chapter XVIL— 2, What is said of the election of Augaist, 1865? 
3. What party elected its candidate for treasurer and five of the nine 
candidates for Congress? What was the character of the legislature 
for that year? 4. What was recommended in Governor Bramlette's 
message? How did the legislature receive the suggestion? 5. How 
had Kentucky's financial affairs been eondvicted during the war? How 
did Kentucky's credit compare with that of the United States? 6. State 
the conditions existing at the election of 1867; the parties having tickets 
before the people; and the successful party. When did the freedmen 
vote at an annual election , and to what extent was the Democratic majority 
reduced? How long did the Democratic party maintain control after 
1867? What is said of the absence of an intolerant and proscriptive 
spirit? What resolutions were adopted by the Republican convention 
of May 17th, 1871? 8. What was the Ku Klux Klan? What is said of its 
operations in Kentucky? What was the effect of the law for its sup- 
pression and of unfriendly public sentiment? 9. What is said of the 
monetary panic of 1873? 10. Give an account of the Geological Survey, 
11. Of the Bureau of Agriculture. 12. Of the Superior Court. 13. What 
is said of the events of the last ten or twelve years? 14. What of the 
centenary or hundredth anniversary of Kentucky? 15. State the diffi- 
culties which for a long time prevented the revision of the Constitution 
of 1849-50. 16. How many acts had been passed prior to 1885-86 to take 
the sense of the people as to calling a convention? What was the 
result of the several elections? How did the legislature of 1885-86 
remove the difficulty? When was the first vote taken under this act? 
When the second? What was the result! 18. "When was the act order- 
ing an election of delegates approved? When were delegates elected? 
When was the convention organized'? When was the new constitution 
submitted to the people for ratification? And with what result? 
19. What is said of the changes made by the new constitution? What 
provision is made against continuing in office? What as to elections? 
What system of voting is prescribed? 20. What is said of local or spe- 
cial legislation? 21. How are charters to be obtained? What charters 
are forbidden and those existing at the time revoked? To what power 
are charters to be held subject? 22. What provision as to counties, 
cities, etc.? 23. What is the greatest number of magistrates any county 
can have? 24. What privileges are granted to corporations? 25. How 
is unequal and excessive taxation provided against? 26. What is the 
provision as to voting a tax in aid of railroads? 27. What is the pi'o- 
vision as to courts? 28. What omission as to slavery? 29. What is 
said of the provision to quiet land titles? 30. What important offices 
are made constitutional instead of being left to the will of the legis- 
lature? How was the common school fund increased? 31. What is 
said of the provision to revise the constitution? 32. What indication of 
state growth and changed conditions is furnished by this constitution? 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 325 

33. By what nuijority did tlie people ratify the new constitution? When 
did it go into effect? 34. When was the entire Republican state ticket 
elected for the first time in Kentucky? 35. What is said of business 
depression throughout the Union, from 1890 to 1897? For which party 
did Kentuckj'^ cast her vote in the presidential election of 189G? 
30. What is said of the destitution and suffering of the people In 1894? 

Chapter XVIII. — 1. What is said of the public-spirited men who 
from the earliest period of the state sought to promote learning? 2. 
What is said yf President Jefferson and Col. John Todd in connection 
with laud grant for educational pm-poses? 3. Name some of Kentucky's 
earliest teachers and some school-books published in pioneer times. 4. 
What is said of school-houses and teachers after Indian ti'ovibles ceased? 
5. What is said of schools of high grade and the endowing of Transyl- 
vania Seminary? G. What is said of the gifts made by the legislature 
for the benefit and support of county seminaries? 7. Give an account 
of how Kentucky 's permanent school fund was obtained and what it 
consists of. What are the other resources of the school fund? 8, 9. 
What is said of the treatment of the public school question for more 
than thirty years? What of reports made by Judge Bari-y and the Rev. 
Mr. Peers? 10. ^lio drafted a bill to establish a system of common 
schools in Kentucky and pi'essed it to a passage? When was this bill 
introduced? Upon what en-oneous idea was the law based? How long 
before the people came to entertain right views of common schools? 11. 
When did the legislature make first provision for educating the colored 
children? How were these separate schools to be maintained? When 
was the per capita equalized, so that white and colored children share 
alike? 12. Wliat is said of the state's provision for her defective classes? 
13. What is said of high-class private schools? Name some of the oldest 
and best known. Wliat of the high order of professional schools in 
Kentucky? 14. What state institutions having departments for special 
training of teachers are connected with the school system? 

State what you have learned by reading Personal Sketches at the end 
of Chapter XVIII. 

Chapter XIX. — 2. Name some Kentucky inventors and their inven- 
tions. 3. Name some Kentuckians who first performed cei'tain remarkable 
surgical operations. 4. Are you familiar with the productions of any of the 
persons named in the list of poetical writers? 5. What is said of Ken- 
tucky's painters and sculptors? Give a sketch of Matt Jouett. G. Give 
the names of other known portrait painters. 7. What is said of the 
great Kentucky sculptor, Hart? 

Chapter XX. — 1. How was the institution of slavery fixed upon Ken- 
tucky? What is said of those who opposed it from the first? 2. What 



326 YOUNG people's history of KENTUCKY. 

of the sentiment amou^ tlie members of the first constitutional conven- 
tion? How many of tliem voted for strikiufj out tlie slavery clause? 
How did the gospel ministers all vote"? What did the first constitution 
prohibit with respect to slaves? What did it recommend to the legislature? 
3. When was the question again prominent? What great Kentucky 
statesman strongly advocated the principles and plans of the Coloniza- 
tion Society? 4. When did the Friends of Humanity organize, and what 
was their object? 5. What was said of Henry Clay's conduct and 
speech toward slave-holders, and of his connection with the Kentucky 
Colonization Society? 6. What effect did the radical teachings of north- 
ern Abolitionists have upon the people of Kentucky? What instance is 
given of interference with right of free speech and a free press? 7. 
What was the attitude of northern Al>olitionists for ten years preceding 
the constitutional convention of 1849? Describe their operations in 
Kentucky and state how they resulted in disadvantage to the slaves. 
What persons were arrested in 1844, and tried on the charge of abduct- 
ing slaves? To what punishment were they condemned? What led to 
the pardon of Miss Webster? 8. What did the State Emancipation Con- 
vention of April 25th, 1849, recommend? 9. What is said of the conduct 
of the majority of the slaves after the emancipation proclamation of 
January 1st, 1863, was issued, and Ijefore Congress had formally made 
them free? How many of the men enlisted in the Federal army under 
the call from the Washington war office? 10. What did the Kentucky 
Legislature do when the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States 
Constitution came before it for action? What were the grounds of their 
refusal? 11. What was the effect of interference on the part of the mili- 
tary commandant in Kentucky? When was the Freedman's Bureau 
established, and for what purpose? What was the character of the 
agents sent to Kentucky, and what was the effect of their conduct on 
both races? When military restrictions were removed what took place? 

12. ^Vliat action did the legislature take on the Fourteenth Amendment? 

13. What action did it take on the Fifteenth or Suffrage Amendment? 
How long was it after the war closed till the ex-slaves were invested 
with all the legal rights held by white citizens? 14, Wlien was the law 
limiting negro testimony repealed, and the colored witness placed on 
the same legal footing with the white? 15. When was a uniform system 
of public schools for colored children provided? Tell how the fund to 
maintain it was derived — how the schools were controlled— and what 
proportion of the colored population was returned as pupil children in 
1874. 16. What was the colored population in 1890 and what proportion 
of it was returned as pupil children? When were all the school rev- 
enues designated as one fund, to be distributed equally per head among 
both white and colored children? 17. Wlien did the legislature provide 
for the State Normal School for Colored Persons and make annual 



SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE GENERAL TEXT. 



327 



appropriation for its luainteiiancof State what other appropriations 
have been made by the general j^overnnient, by the state, and by the 
Slater trustees, and what feature lias been added to the schools. 18. 
What lil^erality has the state manifested in providing for the education 
of the colored people '? 

State what you have found under head of Miscellaneous Notes, Com- 
ments, etc., at the end of Chapter XX. 




INDBX. 



Page. 

Ad.iir, Gen. John, Expedition Ajjainst Indians, , . . 147 

Adair, Gen. Jolui, Commands Kentuekians at New Orleans, . 189 

Adair, Gen. Jolm, Sketch of, .... . 214 

Adventure, a Singular, ...... 142 

After the Civil War, 266 

Agriculture, Bureau of, ...... 271 

Allen, W. C, Kentucky Artist, ..... 55 

Allen, Col. John, 145, , 181, 183 

American Citizen-Soldier, the, ..... 264 

Anderson, Gen. Robert, . . . . . . 235 

Animals, Gigantic Species of, . . . . . 28 

x\nimals. Wild, Found in Kentucky, .... 29 

Anti-Relief Party, 202 

Art, Science and Literature, ..... 288 

Augusta, Engagement at, .,.,.. 247 

Badin, Rev. Stephen Theodore, ..... 159 

^ Ballard, Capt. Bland, . . . . * . . 127 

Ballard, Capt Bland, Sketch of, 211 

^ Ballard Family, Attack on, . . . . . . 127 

Bank of Kentucky, 164, 200 

Banks, Forty-six Chartered, " . . . . . 200 
Barbour, Maj. Philip N., ...... 218,220 

Barlow, Tho. H., 288 

Barry, Wm. T., ,281 

Bascom, Rev. Henry B., . . , . . . 101 

Beckuer, Wm. M., 280 

Benham, Robert, Adventure of, .... . 84 

Benham and Watson, Terrible Experience of, . . . 104 

Big Knife, 46 

Blackfish, Indian Chief, Killed, 84 

Blue Licks, Salt-makers Captured at, .... 74 

Blue Licks, Battle at the, 94, 95 

Blue Licks, Kentuckians Killed at, .... 95 

Board of War, 129 

Boat on Salt River Attacked, . . . , . 126 

Boone, Daniel, First Visit of, .... • 35 

Boone, Daniel, Guides Settlers Back to Virginia, . . 42 

Boone, Daniel, Employed by Transylvania Company, . . 47 



330 



INDEX. 



Boone, Daniel, Founds Boonesljorou^li, 

Boone, Daniel, 

Boone, Daniel, Sketch of, 

Boone's Trace, or Wilderness Road, 

Boones, the, and Kenton, Treatment of, 

Boone, Squire, 

Boone, Squire, Sketch of, 

Boone, Jemima, Capture of, 

Boone, George, 

Boone, Mary, Wife of Capt. Wm. Bryan, 

Boonesborough, Stockade Built, 

Boonesborough, Convention at, 

Boonesborough, Land Offce at, 

Boonesborough, Attacks on, 

Boonesborough, Siege of, 

Boswell, Col. Wm. E., 

Bowman, Col. John, 

Bowman, Capt. Joseph, 

Boyle, Gen. J. T., . 

Bradford, Dr. Joshua T., 

Bradley, Gov. Wm. 0., 

Bragg, Gen. Braxton, 

Bramlette, Gov. Thomas E,, 

Brashear, Dr., 

Breckinridge, John . 

Breckinridge, Rev. Robt. J., 

Breckinridge, Gen. John C, 

Bristow, Col. Frank M., 

Brown, John, Sketch of, 

Brown, James, 

Brown, Orlando, quoted. 

Brown, John Mason, . 

Brown, Gov. John Young, . 

Bryan, Capt. Wm., founds Bryan's Station, 

Bryan, Capt. Wm., Killed, . 

Bryan's Station, Siege of 

Bryan, Wm. Jennings, 

Bryan's Station, Heroines of, 

Buckner, Gen. Simon Bolivar, 

Buell, Gen. Don Carlos, 

Bulger, Major, 

Bullitt, Capt. Thomas, Story of, 

Bullock, Wm. F., 

Burning at the Stake, 

BuiT, Aaron, Conspiracy of. 



04 and at inti'i 



:57, 



Vtds 



Paoe. 

48 

to 94 

52 

48 

176 

81 , 83, 89 

172 

69 

83 

82 

48 

49 

50 

71,72 

75 

184 

74, 84 

76 

258 

248, 289 

276 

242 

261, 266 

289 

155 

285 

219, 231 

253 

118 

42 

195 

262 

302 

82 

82 

91 

277 

99 

218, 241 

239 

95 

43 

281 

139 

165 



INDEX. 



331 



Page. 

Burr, Aaron, Sketch of, ..... . 174 

Biitk'r, Mann, quoted, ...... 13 

Butler, Gen. Rielianl, ...... 133 

Butler, Gen. Wm. A., . . . . . . 218 

Byrd, Colonel, a British Officer, ..... 85 

Calamore, Colonel, Settles on Lulbegmd, ... 64 

Caldwell, Colonel, Commands Regiment in 1812, . . 184 

Calloway, Richard, ....... 64 

Calloway, Misses Betsy and Frances, Captured, . . 69 

Callowaj', Betsy, Bravery of, .... . 80 

Carter, Gen., Raids Into Tenn., ..... 252 

Cartwright, Rev. Peter, ..... 161 

Centenary of Kentucky, . ..... 272 

Cerro Gordo, Kentucky Troops, in Battle at, . . . 222 

Chapman, Capt., ...... 89 

Chenoweth, Col. James Q., . . . . . . 256 

Cherokee Indians Sell Claim to Kentucky, ... 35 

Chickasaw Indians Sell Claim to Lands, . » . 35 

Children Knew the Story by Heart, .... 103 

Christian, Col. Wm., Killed, ..... 124 

Churches, First Ones Organized, ..... 159 

Clark, Gov. James, ...... 214 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Comes to Harrodstown, . . 65 

Clark, Gen. Geo, Rogers, Thwarts Henderson, ... 51 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Obtains Important Concessions from ~l 

Virginia, . . . . . . . . j 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Drives Indians from Harrodstown, . ^ 
Clark, 'Gen. Geo. Rogers, Organizes Spies and Scouts, 
Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Plans Expedition Against British Posts, 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Captures Kaskaskia, Cahokia and St. ) rrr, r,r, 

Vincent's, | ^»>, 77 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Retakes St. Vincent's, , . 82 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogei's, Leads Force Against Indian Towns, 96 

Clark, Gen. Geo. Rogers, Sketch of, . . . . 208 

Clark, Rev. Francis, . 

Clay, Henry. 

Clay, Lieut. -Col. Henry, 

Clay, Gen. Green, 

Clay, Gen. Cassius M, 

Club, the Filson, 

Club, the Political, . 

Cluke, Colonel, Attacks Federals at Mt. Sterling, 

Confederate Troops Invade Kentucky, 

Congress, Act of, Admitting Kentucky to Statehood, 

Coomes, Mrs. Wm., ... 







161 


lOG, 


205 


294 




219 


221 
184 




909 


294 
291 
117 
252 
234 
116 






278 



.332 



INDEX. 



I'AGE. 

Connelly, Dr. John, Britisli Snbject, .... 118 

Conspicuous Service to Scliool System, .... 285 

Constitution of 1891, Provisions of, . . . , 273 

Convention at Boonesborough (Transylvania Company's), . 49 
Convention to Consider Separation from Virginia, . Ill to 116 

Convention to Draft First Constitution, .... 116 

Convention to Draft Second Constitution, . . . 156 

Convention to Draft Tliird Constitution, .... 223 

Convention to Draft Fourth Constitution, . . . 273 

Court, Superior, ....... 271 

Cowan, Jared, Killed, ...... 42 

Cox, Col., Commands Regiment, 1812, . . . ^. 184 

Craig, Rev. Lewis, ....... 159 

Craig, Capt. Elijah, . . • , . . . . 92 

Crawford, Col. Wm., Burnt at Stake, . . . .139 

Crepps, Christian, Killed, ...... 136 

Crews and Others Settle in Madison Countj-, ... 83 

Crist, Henry, ........ 136 

Crittenden, John J., . . . . . . . 231 

Crittenden, Gen. Geo. B., ...... 240 

Crittenden Gen. Thomas L., . . . . 219, 235, 248 

Crittenden, Gen. Thomas L., quoted, .... 170, 222 

Croghan, George, Surveys in Kentucky, .... 32 

Croghan, Col. George. Young Commander at Fort Stephenson, 186 

Crow, John, ........ 42 

Cumberland, Duke of, ..... . 32 

Cut Money, ........ 177 

Dark and Bloody Ground, Origin of Term, . . . " 30 

Daughters of American Revolution, .... 100 

Daveiss, Joseph Hamilton, ...... 165 

Daveiss, Samuel, ....... 95 

Daveiss, James, ....... 96 

Daveiss, Mrs. Samuel, ...... 105, 106 

Davis, Jefferson, . . . . . . .16, 230 

Denton, Thomas, ....... 65 

Desha, Gov. Joseph, ...... 203 

District, Judicial, Created, ...... 109 

District Court, First One Held, 109 

Doniphan, Gen. Alexander W., ..... 226 

Doniphan, Mr., Early Teacher, ..... 40 

Douglas, James, Surveys in Kentucky, .... 41 

Drennon Springs, ....... 40 

Dudley, Col. Ambrose, 184, 185 

Dudley, Maj. Peter, 188 

Dudley, Rev. Thomas P., 159 



INDKX. 



333 



Duke, Gen. Biisil W., 

Duiimore, Lord, 

Dii Qiu'sne, Capt., . , 

Durrett, Col. RL'u))en T., (juoted, 

Durivtt and the Filson Club, 

Edwards, John, 

Edui'ation in Kentucky, 

Election of 1801, 

Election of 1803, 

Elections Interf erred with, . 

Election of 1804, 

Election of 1805, 

Election of 1807, 

Elector of Senate, 

Estill, Capt. James, Settles on Little M\u\ 

Estill, Capt. James, Sketch of, 

Estill, Monk, . 

Evans, Lewis, 

Everett, Capt. Pete, . 

Ewing, Rev. Finis, 

Expatriation Act, 

Fairl)anks, Rev. Calvin, 

Families, First at Boonesborou^h, 

Families, First at Harrodstovvn, 

Federal General, His Opinion of Kentuck 

Federal Troops Invade Kentucky, 

Fee, Rev. Jno. G., . 

Field, Lieut.-Col. E. H., 

Filson, John, 

Finley, John, 

First Preachers and First Churches, 

Fitch, John, .... 

Fleming, Miss, Rescued by Lidian Chief, 

Fletcher, Gen. Thomas, 

Floyd, Col. John, Surveys in Kentucky, 

Floyd, Col. John, Sketch of, 

Forrest, Gen. N. B., 

Fort Donelson, 

Fort Henry, .... 

Fort Jefferson, on tin- Mississippi, 

Fort Jefferson, in Ohio, 

Fort Meigs, .... 

Fort Sandusky, ... 

Fort Stephenson, 

Fort Washington, 



ill, 124: 



23! 



184 



Paob. 
247 

42 

75 
102 
291 
145 
278 
234 
200 
200, 201 
202 
200 
207 
103 

83 

102 

90, 102 

22 

253 

100 

1, 200, 207 

295 

64 

65 

12 

234 

296 

219 

119, 278 

32 
158 
288 
143 
175 

41 

134 

I, 254, 204 

240 

240 

88 
133 
, 185, 186 
182 
186 
128 



)U 



INDEX. 



Fort Wayne, . 

Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, qnoted, 

French Gentlemen, quoted, 

Frenchtown, Fig'hting' at. 

Fry, Maj. Gary H., . 

Fry, Gen. Speed S., 

Gaines, Maj. John P., 

Game Still Found in Kentucky, 

Garrard, Gov. James, 

Garrard, Gen. T. T., 

Gass, Miss Jennie, Killed, . 

General Officers Furnished by Kentucky, Numl)e 

General Officers Furnished by Kentucky, Names 

Genet, French Minister, Conduct of, 

George, Capt., 



Gibault, Father, Important Service 

Gilmore, Gen. Q. A., 

Girty, Simon, Renegade, 

Gist, Christopher, 

Givens, Lieut., 

Gordon, Capt., 

Governors, Lieutenant-Governors, 

Governor, the Ancient, 

Grant, Gen. U. S., . 

Graves, Maj. Benjamin, 

Greensburgh, Settlements Near, 

Greenup, Gov. Christopher, 

Greenville, Treaty of. 

Guerillas, 

Habeas Corpus, Right of, Siispend 

Hackett, Peter, 

Hamilton, British Governor, 

Hancock, Stephen, 

Hardee, Gen. Wm. J., 

Hardin, Col. John, 

Hardin, Col. John, Sketch of, 

Hardin, Col. Wm., 

Harlan, Maj., 

Harlan, Gen. John M.. 

Harmar, Gen., 

Harmon, John, 

Harrison, Gen. Wm. Henry, 

Harrison, Burr, 

Harrod, Col. James, 

Harrod, Col. James, Sketch of. 



of, 



ind Secretarie 



<l. 



182 



r of, 
of. 



s of St 



ate , 



isi: 



Page 

182 

16 

11 

183 

219 

2G2 

219, 222 

26 

154 

238 

90 

15 

265 

148 

88 

77 

252 

101 

31, 32 

95 

95 

302 

214 

240 

183, 184 

38 

165 

153 

256 

261 

90 

77,82 

83 

248 

128 

156 

124, 13G 

95 

251 

128 

42 

181 

60 

41 

56 



INDKX. 



83/) 



Harrodstuwii FouiuU-d, 

Hart, Nathaniel, Killed, 

Hart, Nathaniel G. T., Massacred, 

Hart, Joel T., 

Hart, Silas, Killed, 

Haw, Rev, James, 

Hawes, Eichard, 

Helm, Capt. Leonard, 

Henderson, Richard, Sketch of, 

Hendricks, , Burnt at the Stake, 

Henrj', Gov. Patrick, 

Hcth, General, Commands Under Kirby Smith, 

Heth, General, Threatens Cincinnati, 

Hickman, Rev. Wm,, 

Hickman, Capt, Paschal, Massacre of 

Hicks, General, 

Hiukston's Station, . 

History, a Definition of, 

History, Cicero, quoted, 

Hobson, Gen, EdH., 

Hogan, Richard, 

Holder, Capt. John, 

Hood, Gen. John B,, 

Hnbbell, Capt, Wm., 

Hull, General, Disgraceful Surrender of, 

Humphrej', A, P,, quoted, . 

Hunter's Rifle, the, . 

Hunting Shirt, the, 

Huston, Gen. Felix, 

Illinois County Organized, . 

Indian Trails, 

Indian Outrages, 1784, '85, '80, 

Inglis, IMrs. Mary, 

Inuis, Judge Harry, 

Internal Improvements, 

Ivy Mountain, Engagement at, 

Jackson, Gen. Andrew, 

Jackson, Gen. James S., 

Jacob, Col, Richard T,, 

Jefferson, President Thomas, 

Johnson, Mrs. Joseph, Story t»f, 

Johnson, Col. Richard M., . 

Johnson, George W., 

Johnston and Others Attacked on Board Emigrant Boat 

Johnston, Gen. Albert Sidney, . c . . 



;j:j(; 



INDEX. 



Jones, Giibriel John, 

Kavanaugh, Risliop H. H., . 

Keiger, Colonel, .... 

Kelley, Wm., .... 

Kennedy, Lieutenant, 

Kennedy, Thomas, .... 

Kenton, Simon, First Cominj^ of, . 

Kenton, Simon, Founds Station in Mason County, 

Kenton, Simon, Sketch of, . 

Kentucky, Climate of, . . . 

Kentucky, Geography of , . 

Kentucky, Geology of, 

Kentucky, Contribvition of to New States, 

Kentuckians, Position and Influence of in (Jther States 

Kentucky Character, 

Kentuckians a Peculiar People, 

Kentuckians, Comparitive Size of, 

Kentucky Not Inhabited When White Man Came, 

Kentucky, White Man's Claim to — How Obtained, 

Kentucky Divided Into Three Counties, . 

Kentucky Sends Delegates to Virginia Assembly, 

Kentucky a State, ...... 

Kentuckians Killed at Blue Licks, 

Kentuckians, Partiality of for the French, . , 

Kentuckians, Feelings of, Against the British, . 
Kentuckians Oppose War With France, . 
Kentuckians in Battle of Tippecanoe, 
Kentucky, Volunteers of, in War of 1812, 
Kentucky Sharp- Shooters With Commodore Perry, 
Kentucky Mothers, ...... 

Kentucky Troops, Harrison's Confidence in, 
Kentucky's Great Orators, ..... 

Kentuckians, Indians Dreaded Them, 
Kentuckians Among Other State Troops, 
Kentuckians Divided During the Civil War, 
Kentucky Troops, Officers of in Mexican War, . . 21 

Kentuckians Killed at Buena Vista, 

Kentuckians Who Fell in Mexico re-interred at Frankfort, 
Kentuckians, Number of, in the Two Armies During the Civil 
Kentuckians, Number Who Died in Battle or of Diseases Dur 
the Civil War, .... 

Kentuckians in Confederate Army, Return of, 

Kentu.eky, Some Historical Works on, 

Kentucky Painters, Sculptors, Poets, and Inventors, 288, 289, 290, 291 

Kentucky's Governors, etc.. List of, .... 303 



INDEX. 



337 



Kentucky's United States Senators, List of, 
Kentucky Scenery, Character of, . 
Kentucky, Geological Survey of , . 
Kincaid, Capt., ..... 

Kincheloe's Station, .... 

King, Rev. Samuel, ..... 
Knox, Col. James, Leads Party Through Kentucky, 
Ku Klux Klan, the, ..... 
LaFayette, Gen., Visits Kentucky, 
LaFont, Dr., Accompanies Father Gibault, 
LaSalle, His Visit to Kentucky, 
Land Offices Established, .... 
Landrum, Col. Jno. J., . 

Land Sui"\'eys, Trouble Arising From Want of System, 
Laws, Alien and Sedition, Character of, . 
Leslie, Gov. Preston H., . 
Lewis, Gen. Andrew, ..." 

Lewis, George, ..... 

Lewis, Col., Commands Kentucky Regiment Under Hai'rison, 
Lexington, Block-house Built at, . 
Lexington, First Legislature Meets at, 
Lebanon, Capture of, 
Lee, Henry, .... 
Legislature Ajourns to Louisville, . 
Legislature Refuses to Ratify Amendments, . . 29 

Leestown, Settlement at, . 
Lick, Big Bone, 

Lieut. -Governors of Kentucky, List of, 
Lieut. -Governor, Succession of, 
Lincoln Countj^ Family, Story of, 
Lincoln, Abraham, 
Lindsay, Joseph, Settles on Elkhorn, 
Lindsey, Lieutenant, 
Linn, Capt. Wm., 
Little Mountain, Battle of. 
Little Turtle, Indian Chief, 
Logan, Gen. Benjamin, 
Logan, Gen. Benjamin, Sketch of, 
Logan, James, Shawnee-Mingo Chief, 
Logan's Station, Siege of, . 
Long Hunters, the, 
Long Knife, .... 
Louisiana Tenntory, Cession of, 
Louisville Incorporated, 
23 



Page. 

307 

2G 

270 

95 

90 

160 

38 

209 

203 

77 

31 

108 

243 

108, 109 

151 

269 

43 

123 

181 

82 

145 

243 

145 

245 

298, 299 

69 

28 

303 

199 

161 

16, 230 

64 

95 

77, 89 

89 

133, 147 

52 

59 

192 

84 

46 

46 

165 



338 



INDEX. 



Lyon, Gen. H. B., 

Lynch's Station, 

Lythe, Rev. John, 

Mc'Adoo, Rev. Samuel, 

McAfee Brothers, 

McAfee, Gen. Robert B., quoted, 

McArthur, Gen., Kentucky Volunteers, w 

McBride, Capt., 

McClelland, John, Settles at Royal Spring 

McClellan, Gen. Geo. B., . 

McClelland's Station, Attacked, 

McClure Killed, Wife Captured, 

McCook, Gen. A. D., 

McDowell, Major, Capture of, 

McDowell, Dr. Ephraim, 

McDowell, Samuel, . 

McKinley, Wm. M., . 

Madison, Maj. Geo., at the Raisin, 

Madison, Maj. Geo., Elected Governor, 

Madison, Gov. George, Death of, 

McGary, Hugh, 

MaGofSn, Gov. Beriah, 

McKinney, John, ''Wild Cat," Sketch of 

Manson, Colonel, 

Marriage, First in Kentucky, 

Marshall, Senator Humphrey, quoted, 

Marshall, Thomas, Surveyor, 

Marshall, Thomas F., 

Marshall, Gen. Thomas, 

Marshall, Gen. Humphrey, 

Martial Law Declared in Kentucky, 

Martin's Station, 

Maxey, Capt. Wm. H., 

May, John, Clerk of First District Court, 

May, John, One of First Teachers, 

Maysville, Block-house Built at, 

Menefee, Richard H., 

Merrill, John, Attack on, 

Merrill, Mrs., Story of, 

Military Interference, 

Mills, Colonel, at the Raisin, 

Mineral Resources, . . . 

Mississippi River, Free Navigation of, 

Mohawk Indians, Treaty With, 

Money, Continental, . 



, 192, 



th, 



Page. 

256 
89 
. 49, 158 
199 
40, 8,'}, 121 
193, 194, 195, 19G 
188 
95 
64 
262 
70 
124 
248 
252 
289 
109, 116 
277 
182 
199 
199 
65, 94 
231, 257 
137 
245 
81 
55, 56, 57 
108 
218 
218 
219, 239 
258, 259 
83 
222 
109 
278 
123 
225 
126 
139 
257 
183 
25 

149, 150, 153, 164 
34 
164 



INDEX. 



339 



Page. 

Monoy, Cut, ........ 177 

jMoiietary Crisis, 1817-'27, .... 200, 201, 202, 203 

Monetary Crisis, 1837-'42, ...... 204, 205 

Monetary Crisis, 18o4-'o7, ...... 227 

Monetary Affairs of Kentucky During the War, . . 267 

Monetary Crisis, 1873, ...... 269 

Monetary Disturbance, 1890 to 1897, .... 276, 277 

Monterey, Kentuckians at Taking of, . . . , 220 

Morgan, Gen. George, ...... 245 

Morgan, Gen. John H., Operates in Kentucky, , . . 242, 251 

Morgan, Gen. John H., Raid Into the North, . . . 253 

Morgan, Gen. John A., Escapes From Prison, . . . 254 

Morgan, Gen. John H., Death of, ..... 255,256 

Morgan's Station Captured and Burnt, .... 147 

Moore, Col., ........ 253 

Morehead, Gov. James, ...... 228 

Morrison, Mrs. John, First Woman at Lexington, . . 82 

Mound-builders, the, ...... 28 

Muhlenberg, Gen. Peter, ...... 162 

Muter, Judge, George, ...... 109 

Munfordville, Engagements at, . . . . . 246 

Natural and Artificial Curiosities, .... 26 

Nelson, Gen. William, ...... 238, 245 

Nerincks, Rev. Charles, ...... 161 

Neutrality, Kentucky Assumes Position of, . . . 233 

Newspaper, First in- Kentucky, . , . . . 121 

New Orleans, Battle of, ...... 189, 190 

Note to Teachers, With Suggestive Questions, . , . 307 

Officers Commanding Kentucky Troops in tlie 1 , d ,00 100 io< 10- 

War of 1812, / ^^^' ^^■"' ^^■^' ^^^ ^^' 

Officers Commanding Kentucky Troops in the Mexican War, . 219 

Officers and Soldiers in Mexican War, Roster of. Reference to, 219 

Officers Imprisoned With Gen. Moi'gan, .... 254 

Ogden, Rev. Benjamin, ...... 159 

Oldham, Col. William, Commands Kentuckians Under St. Clair, 132 

Old Chillicothe, Bowman's Expedition against, ... 84 

Old Court and New Court of Appeals, .... 202 

Ormsby, Col. Stephen, ...*., 218, 219 

Orr, Col. Alexander D., . . . . . , 148 

Overton, Capt., ....... 95 

Owen, Col. Abraham, Killed at Tippecanoe, . . . 170 

Owen, Capt. George, Commands Block-house at Fort Jefferson, 88 

Owsley, Gov. Wm., Calls for Volunteers, . . . . 217 

Paducah, Occupied by Gen. Grant, .... 234 

Paducah, Forrest's Attack on, . . . . . 254 



340 



INDEX. 



Paine, E. A., Monstrous Conduct of, 

Palmer, Gen. Jno. M., 

Payne, Gi'U. John, 

Patterson, Robert, at Royal Springs, 

Patterson, Robert, Foniuls Lexington, 

Pegrain, General, Raids in Kentucky, 

Peers, Rev. Benj. 0., 

Perry ville, Battle of. 

Pig, tlie Militia, Story of, . 

Pillow, Gen. Gideon, 

Pike Tomahawk, 

Pittman's Station, 

Plascut, , a Noble Boj-, 

Poague, Wm., 

Point Pleasant, Battle of, 

Polk, President, 

Polk, Gen. Leonidas, 

Population of Kentucky When Admitted to the Union, 

Population Increased by Periods for 115 Years, 

Population, Made up of What Races, 

Population, Colored, 1873-1890, 

Powder, Supply Obtained by Clark, 

Powder, Made by Monk Estill, 

Powell, Lieut. James, 

Power, Thomas, Spanish Agent, 

Provisional Government, Confederates Organize 

Purchase, the, or the Jackson Purchase, 

Purchase, the. Why So-called, 

Prairies, Extent of in Kentucky 

Preachers, First to Organize Chvirches, 

Preston, William, Surveyor for Fineastle County 

Preston, Gen. William, 

Price, Gen. Samuel W., 

Proctor, John R., State Geologist, 

Proctor, British General, 

Proctor, Rev. Joseph, Sketch of, . 

Products of Kentucky, 

Prophet, the, Tecumseh's Brother, 

Public Lands for School Purposes, Act to Erjualize Di> 

Questions on the General Text, 

Quinn's Bottom, Indians Attack Settlers 

Race, Prehistoric, 

Raisin River, Massacre at. 

Raisin River, Scene at, 

Ray, Gen. James, 



■il>iiti( 



Page. 
262 
263 
181 

70 

82 
252 
281 
248 
193 
246 

46 

83 
143 

64 

43 

205, 217 

234 

145 

30o 

17, 29,30 

299, 300 

66, 67 

103 

222. 

153 

238' 

199 

199, 200 

28 
158 

41 
218 
205, 291 
270 
185 
102 

24 

169 

I of, 287 

310 

139 

27 

]S3, 184 

194 

70. 



INDEX. 341 

Page. 

Rjiy, Gen. James, Sketch of, .... . 78 

Ray, "Williaiii, Killed, ...... 70 

Redliawk, Indian Chief, ...... 8-4 

Relief Party, ........ 202 

Rescued by Indian Chief, ...... 143 

Resolutions of 1708, ...... 155 

Revolutionary War, Kentucky's Part in, ... 63 

Rice, Rev. David, ... .o.. 293 

Richmond, Battle of, ...... 244, 245 

Right of Deposit granted, ...... 153 

Right of Deposit Suspended, ..... Ij64 

Rivers, Navigable, ....... 21 

Rivers, Principal, ....... 21 

River Systems, Principal, ...... 22 

Robertson, Chief- Justice George, on Battle of Little Mountain, 103 

Robinson, Gov. James F., . . . . . . 259 

Rogers, David. Killed, ...... 84 

Rogers, Lieutenant., ...... 95 

Rogers, Edmund, Sketch of, .... . 173 

Rogers, Lieut.- Col. Jason, ..... 219 

Royal Spring, First Visit to, . . . . . 64 

Ruddle, Isaac, Rebuilds Hinkston's, .... 83 

Ruddle's Station, ....... 8G 

Rumsey, James, ....... 288 

St. Asaph's, or Logan's Station, . . . . . 49, 52 

St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, ...... 130 

St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, Disastrous Expedition of, . . 132, 133 

Salt Springs and Wells, ...... 25 

Salt River, Fight With Indians, Men Engaged in, . . 136 

Sandusky, Jacob, ....... 42 

Sandusky, James, ....... 69 

Sandusky Station, ....... 69 

Scalping an Enemy, ....... 141 

Scenery, Natural, in Kentucky-, ..... 26 

Schoepff, General, Reinforces GaiTard, .... 238 

School Fund, Whence Derived, . . . . . 280 

Schools, Common, ....... 281 

Schools, Private, ....... 283 

Schools, State Charitable, ...... 283 

Schools, Colored, ...... 299, 300, 301 

Scott, Colonel, ....... 181 

Sebastian, Judge Benjamin, ..... 109 

Shackle ford. General, Commands Cavahy in Pursuit of Morgan, 253 

Shaler, N. S., Geologist, ...... 270 

Shaler, N. S., quoted, ...... 17 



342 



INDEX. 



Shelby, Gov. Isaac, . . . . . .181, 

Shelby, Gov. Isaac, Sketch of, .... 

Shepherd, Maj. John B., . 

Scott, Gen. Charles ..... 

Scott, Gen. Charles, Sketch of, . 

Skeggs, Mrs., Her Family Attacked, 

Slaughter, Gov. Gabriel, ..... 

Slavery in Kentucky, ..... 

Smith, Major, Drives Indians From Boonesborough, 
Smith, Gen. Green Clay, ..... 

Smith, Gen. E. Kirby, Operates in Kentucky, 

Smith, Z. F., Service to School System, . 

Smith, Elder John, ...... 

Soil, Varieties of, ...... 

South Elkhorn, Heroines of, .... 

South, Samuel, Sent to "Warn Estill, 

Spalding, Bishop, Martin John, .... 

Spanish Conspiracy, Secret Agent Sent, . 

Spanish Treaty, Guarantees Navigation and Right of Deposit 

Spanish Conspiracy, ...... 

Spears, Solomon, in Salt River Fight, 

Speed, Capt. Thomas, ..... 

Stager, John, , . . . 

Stay Laws, ....... 

Stevenson, General, Commands Under Smith in Kentuckj', 
Stevenson, Rev. Thomas, ..... 

Stewart, Capture of, ...... 

Stockton, Maj. Geo., Fleming County Pioneer, . 
Stockton, Ben., ...... 

Stone, Elder Barton W., 

Stoner Ci'eek, Settlement at, . 

Tanner, John, ...... 

Taylor, Hancock, Joins Bullitt in Kentucky, 

Taylor, Hancock, ...... 

Taylor, Gen. Zachary, ..... 

Tecumseh Stops Massacre of Dudley's Men, 

Tecumseh, Killed at Battle of Thames, 

Texas, Annexation of, Attitiide of Kentuckians, 

Thames, Battle of the, 18G 

Thomas, Gen., Commands Kentuckians Sent to Re-enforce Jack 
Thomas, Gen. George H., Fights Crittenden at Mill Springs, 
Thomas, Col. Maulius V., . 
Thompson, Col. Albert P., Killed at Paducah . 
Tilghman, Gen. Lloyd, ..... 

Tinsley, Rev. Peter, . . . . 



Page. 
188, 199 
190 
219 
128 
170 
125 
199 
293 

72 
244 
244 
286 
161 

22 
138 

90 
161 
153 
153 
153, 169 
136 
117 

64 

201, 205 

244 

159 

37 
141 
141 
159 

83 

83 

40 

42 
217, 218 

85 

188 

217 

187, 188 

on, 189 

240, 256 

219 

255 

240 

158 



INDEX. 



343 



Tippecanoe, Battle of, 

Tipton, Captain, 

Tobiii, Elias, Settles in Bath County, 

Todds, Father and Son, 

Todd, Col. John, 

Todd, Col. John, Sketch of, 

Todd Brothers, the, . 

Todd, Levi, .... 

Todd, Thomas, Clerk of Conventions to Consider Separ 

Todd, Thomas, First Kentucky Judge of U. S. Supreme 

Todd, Robt., .... 

Tomahawk, .... 

Transylvania Company, 

Translyvauia Company, Land Grant to, 

Translyvania Seminary, 

Transylvania University, 

Trace, Boone's, or the Wilderness Road, 

Tribble, Rev. Andrew, 

Trigg, Colonel, 

Truman, Major, Murdered, . 

Tui'ner, Squire, quoted, 

Tye, John, Saved By His Dogs, 

Tyler, Capt. Robt., . 

Tyler's Station, Ballard Family Killed at, 

U. S. Senators From Kentucky, 

Utah, Insurrection in Kentucky, Volunteers, 

Vaughan, Adj., Edward M., Killed, 

Virginia Legislature, Acts of. Relative to Separation, 

Walker, Dr. Thomas, Comes to Kentucky, 

Walker, Dr. Thomas, Second Visit of, 

Walker, Colonel, Engages Cluke, . 

Waller, Edward, .... 

Waller, John, ..... 

War, French find Indian, Kentucky Pioneers in, 

War, Revolutuuionary, Kentucky's Part in, 

War of 1812, Cause of. 

War, Mexican, Cause of. 

War, Mexican, Kentiicky Volunteers in. 

War, Civil, Causes of. 

War, Civil, Kentucky in the, 

War Department, Orders of, 

Ward, Gen. W. T., . 

Washington, Gen. George, . 

Wataga, Fort, Treaty at, 

Wataga, Purchase Declared Void, . 



ation. 
Court 



11 



217, 



233, 234, 235, 
258, 259, 



Page. 

169, 170 

89 

64 

212 

67 

98 

97 

74 

116 

112 

145 

46 

47 

66 

280 

280 

48 

160 

95 

147 

296 

106 

127 

127 

306 

228 

221 

113, 115 

32 

32 

252 

123 

123 

63 

63 

179 

216 

218, 219 

229, 230 

236, 237 

260, 261 

219 

128, 150 

47 

51 



344 



INDEX. 



Wayne, Gen, Anthony, Interferes With Genet's Plans, 
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, Succeeds St. Clair, 
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, Calls For Kentucky Volunteers 
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, Decisive Victory of, 
Webster, Miss Delia A., 
Wells, Geji. Samuel, .... 
West, Edward, .... 

Whelan, Rev. Father, 

White, Gen., Engages Marshall in Lawrence County 
Whetley, Col. Wm., . 

Whittaker, Capt. Aquilla, Pursues Indians, 
Wieklif¥e, Gov. Chas. A., . 
Wild Cat Mountain, Engagement at, 
Wilder, General, in Command at Munfordville, 
Wiley, James, . 
Wilkinson, Gen. James, 
Willis, Capt. Wm. T. 
- Williams, Thomas, 
Williams, Gen. John S., 
Winchester, Gen., 
Winter 1779-'80, Intensely Cold, 
Wolford, Gen. Frank, 
Woman, A Fleet-Footed, 
Woman, First White in Kentucky, 
Women, Pioneer, 
Woods, Mrs., Story of, 
Works Consulted in Preparing this Book, 
Zollicoffer, Gen. Felix, 



Page. 
150 
152 
152 
152, 153 
295 
170, 181 
264 
159 
252 
04, 124, 148 
89 
136 
238 
264 
42 
112, 129 
221 
51 
219 
182 
85 
244, 262 
161 
44 
162 
161 
305 
234-240 




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